ChemGenex Appoints Jean-Luc Tetard to Board of Directors

MELBOURNE, Australia & MENLO PARK, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX:CXS) (NASDAQ:CXSP) today
announced that Mr. Jean-Luc Tetard, the President of the Stragen Group
of companies, has joined the company's Board of Directors effective
immediately. Mr. Tetard is an experienced senior executive and
director with more than 35 years' experience in the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology industries.

As founding Chief Executive Officer of Stragen Chemical SA and
Stragen Pharma SA, Mr. Tetard has, over a period of 18 years, guided
the growth and success of the Stragen Group as it has expanded to
become a European leader in developing and distributing generic
pharmaceuticals. The Stragen Group has obtained approximately 200 drug
marketing approvals globally and has operations in Switzerland,
France, the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, Russia and Canada. Prior to
founding the Stragen Group Mr. Tetard worked for the French
pharmaceutical company Sanofi (now Sanofi-Aventis) as a senior
executive in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

"As ChemGenex looks to complete the clinical trials of omacetaxine
mepesuccinate over the coming months and moves towards FDA and EMEA
submission, Jean-Luc's experience in marketing, distribution and
corporate development, particularly in the European context, will be
an invaluable asset for us," said Greg Collier, Ph.D., Chief Executive
Officer and Managing Director. "We welcome Jean-Luc to the Board of
Directors and look forward to his contributions across the
organization."

"This is an exciting time to be joining ChemGenex," Mr. Tetard
said. "I look forward to working with management and my fellow
Directors to realize the value of omacetaxine and the company's other
assets, and to continue to build upon the successes reported over the
past year."

About ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited (http://www.chemgenex.com)

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical development company
dedicated to improving the lives of patients by developing
personalized oncology medicines. ChemGenex harnesses the power of
genomics both to discover novel targets and drug compounds, and in
clinical trials to develop more individualized treatment outcomes.
ChemGenex's lead compound, omacetaxine mepesuccinate (formerly known
as Ceflatonin(R)), is currently in phase 2/3 clinical trials for
chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). ChemGenex has a second anticancer
compound, amonafide dihydrochloride (formerly known as Quinamed(R))
which is in phase 2 clinical development for various solid cancers,
and a portfolio of assets in pre-clinical development. ChemGenex
currently trades on the Australian Stock Exchange under the symbol
"CXS" and on NASDAQ under the symbol "CXSP".

Details on the clinical trials can be accessed from the following
websites:

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00375219?term=
homoharringtonine&rank=9 (Due to its length, this URL may need to be
copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the
extra space if one exists.) and http://www.tkiresistantcmltrials.com

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements made herein that use the words "estimate",
"project", "intend", "expect", "believe" and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties which could cause the actual results, performance or
achievements of the company to be materially different from those
which may be expressed or implied by such statements, including, among
others, risks or uncertainties associated with the development of the
company's technology, the ability to successfully market products in
the clinical pipeline, the ability to advance promising therapeutics
through clinical trials, the ability to establish our fully integrated
technologies, the ability to enter into additional collaborations and
strategic alliances and expand current collaborations and obtain
milestone payments, the suitability of internally discovered genes for
drug development, the ability of the company to meet its financial
requirements, the ability of the company to protect its proprietary
technology, potential limitations on the company's technology, the
market for the company's products, government regulation in Australia
and the United States, changes in tax and other laws, changes in
competition and the loss of key personnel. These statements are based
on our management's current expectations and are subject to a number
of uncertainties that could change the results described in the
forward-looking statements. Investors should be aware that there are
no assurances that results will not differ from those projected.

ChemGenex Information
Dr. Greg Collier, CEO and Managing Director
Cell (Australia): +61-419-897-501
Cell (USA): +1-650-200-8145
gcollier@chemgenex.com
or
Buchan Consulting
Rebecca Wilson, +61-2-9237-2800
Media Relations - Australia
Cell: + 61 (0) 417-382-391
rwilson@bcg.com.au
or
Kureczka/Martin Associates
Joan Kureczka, +1-415-821-2413
Media Relations - USA
Jkureczka@comcast.net

Copyright Business Wire 2008