Cellceutix CEO, and Advisor Jim Boeheim Interviewed by Boston Herald About New Cancer Drug; Company Provides Update on p53 Compounds From Annual ASCO Meeting


BEVERLY, MA--(Marketwire - Jun 4, 2012) - Cellceutix Corporation (OTCBB: CTIX) (the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering small molecule drugs to treat unmet medical conditions, including drug-resistant cancers, is pleased to report that its Chief Executive Officer, Leo Ehrlich, and Cellceutix advisor Jim Boeheim, have been interviewed for an article published in the Boston Herald on Sunday, June 3, 2012. The article, titled "Jim Boeheim Makes Cancer Startup Play," discusses the Company's novel cancer drug, Kevetrin™, and the new relationship with the legendary Syracuse University men's basketball coach.

The article speaks favorably of Cellceutix and Jim Boeheim's dedication as an advocate to find new cancer treatments, including his relationship with the Company. The complete article can be read at: http://bostonherald.com/jobfind/news/healthcare/view/20220603coach_makes_cancer_startup_play_boeheim_signs_on_at_beverly_biotech_with_prostate_treatment.

The Cellceutix team is also pleased to report from the Annual ASCO (American Society for Clinical Oncology) Meeting, which is being held in Chicago from June 1st to June 5th, 2012. The leading industry event features clinicians, researchers and pharmaceutical companies in the cancer arena presenting their achievements, new treatments and other innovations.

"From all the materials presented, we cannot find any compound in development focused on p53 at a stage remotely comparable to Kevetrin™. p53 is an important tumor suppressor that acts to restrict proliferation by inducing cell cycle checkpoints, apoptosis, or cellular senescence. If any mention is given to a new compound targeting p53, we learned that they are very early in development," said Dr. Krishna Menon, Chief Scientific Officer at Cellceutix. "We have been in discussions with leading firms and pioneers in oncology throughout the conference. Appropriately, there is great enthusiasm surrounding vaccines and antibodies in oncology, especially the news about the experimental drugs by Bristol Myers Squibb ('BMY'), but their limitations always surface in conversation because they have a narrow target of specific cancer lines. Researchers know that harnessing the power of p53, the 'Guardian Angel of the Human Genome,' can be a game changer because it is present in either 'wild,' 'mutant' or 'null' form in every type of cancer. Kevetrin™ is the only compound that affects all three forms, meaning that as a cancer therapy, it could have no bounds as to what cancer it treats. A drug of that prowess would represent one of the biggest breakthroughs in modern oncology and illustrates the scope and hope with Kevetrin™; explaining why it is garnering so much attention."

"Awareness about Kevetrin™ and Cellceutix continues to grow," commented Dr. Menon. "We are very proud of the recognition we are receiving for our company, our compounds and new cancer treatments that could potentially change the dynamics of chemotherapy as we know it today."

"The passing of the legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate recently, which includes a section on accelerating the review of new drugs for life-threatening diseases, has us even more eager for the commencement of clinical trials for Kevetrin™," Dr. Menon continued. "Due to its unique Mechanism of Action to re-activate p53 in the destruction of cancer cells, we feel that this new mandate bodes especially well for us in expediting the development of this novel compound."

About Kevetrin™

As a completely new class of chemistry in medicine, Kevetrin™ has significant potential to be a major breakthrough in the treatment of solid tumors. Mechanism of action studies showed Kevetrin's unique ability to affect both wild and mutant types of p53 (often referred to as the "Guardian Angel Gene" or the "Guardian Angel of the Human Genome") and that Kevetrin strongly induced apoptosis (cell death), characterized by activation of Caspase 3 and cleavage of PARP. Activation of p53 also induced apoptosis by inducing the expression of p53 target gene PUMA. p53 is an important tumor suppressor that acts to restrict proliferation by inducing cell cycle checkpoints, apoptosis, or cellular senescence.

In more than 50 percent of all human carcinomas, p53 is limited in its anti-tumor activities by mutations in the protein itself. Currently, there are greater than 10 million people with tumors that contain inactivated p53, while a similar number have tumors in which the p53 pathway is partially abrogated by inactivation of other signaling components. This has left cancer researchers with the grand challenge of searching for therapies that could restore the protein's protective function, which Kevetrin appears to be doing the majority of the time.

About Cellceutix

Headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts, Cellceutix is a publicly traded company under the symbol "CTIX". It is an emerging bio-pharmaceutical company focused on the development of its pipeline of compounds targeting areas of unmet medical need. Our flagship compound, Kevetrin™, is an anti-cancer drug which has demonstrated the ability in pre-clinical studies to regulate the p53 pathway and attack cancers which have proven resistant to today's cancer therapies (drug-resistant cancers). Cellceutix also owns the rights to seven other drug compounds, including KM-133, which is in development for psoriasis, and KM-391 for the treatment of the core symptoms of autism. More information is available on the Cellceutix web site at www.cellceutix.com.

Safe Harbor Forward-Looking Statements

To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, including statements as to revenue projections, business strategy, outlook, objectives, future milestones, plans, intentions, goals, future financial conditions, future collaboration agreements, the success of the Company's development, events conditioned on stockholder or other approval, or otherwise as to future events, such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Factors that may impact Cellceutix's success are more fully disclosed in Cellceutix's most recent public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact Information:

Cellceutix Corp.
Leo Ehrlich
(978) 236-8717