ChemGenex CEO Receives AusBiotech AwardMELBOURNE, Australia, and...

ChemGenex CEO Receives AusBiotech Award

MELBOURNE, Australia, and MENLO PARK, California U.S.A. (28th October 2009) –

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX:CXS) is pleased to announce Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Greg Collier, PhD. was recognized this morning for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of biotechnology in Australia.

Dr Collier received the AusBiotech 2009 Chairman’s Excellence Award for outstanding contribution by an individual within a company. The Board and management of ChemGenex extend their congratulations to Dr Collier upon the receipt of this award.

Media Release Wednesday 28 October 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Greg Collier, ChemGenex CEO, awarded for excellence at AusBiotech 2009 Conference

ChemGenex CEO Dr Greg Collier was today recognised for his outstanding contribution to the Australian biotech sector, receiving the AusBiotech 2009 Chairman’s Excellence Award for outstanding contribution by an individual within a company.

Dr Collier has played a significant role internationally and domestically in promoting Australia’s leadership in biotechnology development and commercialisation. Under Dr Collier’s leadership ChemGenex has emerged as an Australian success story, being the first Australian company to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration for a cancer medicine.

ChemGenex has submitted its NDA for Omapro™ (omacetaxine mepesuccinate), for the treatment of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who have failed treatment with the drug imatinib and who have developed the T315I mutation. Patients with this mutation do not respond to existing therapies, and in clinical trials Omapro has been shown to be effective in 85% of patients with chronic phase CML.

ChemGenex also recently discovered in preclinical testing that Omapro kills human leukemic stem cells - a significant development with research showing stem cells appear to fuel the growth of several kinds of cancers including leukemia and are resistant to standard cancer therapy.

With stem cell therapies being hailed by many as the silver bullet in cancer treatment, this discovery is an interesting development for the Company and expands potential new and wide ranging avenues for the use of Omapro.Further information and interviews:

About ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited (http://www.chemgenex.com)
ChemGenex is an oncology focused biopharmaceutical company developing small molecules with new mechanisms of action to treat malignancies with significant unmet medical needs. The company is developing its lead product candidate OMAPRO™ (formerly omacetaxine) for the treatment of patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). A New Drug Application has been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for CML patients with the Bcr-Abl T315I mutation. The corporate strategy for ChemGenex is to commercialize OMAPRO™ independently in North America and to establish
commercial partnerships in the rest of the world. ChemGenex currently trades on the Australian
Stock Exchange under the symbol "CXS". For additional information on ChemGenex
Pharmaceuticals, please visit the company’s website at http://www.chemgenex.com.
Details on the clinical trials can be accessed from the following websites;
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00375219?term=homoharringtonine&rank=9 and
http://www.tkiresistantcmltrials.com