Opexa Therapeutics Joins Russell Microcap Index

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. Russell calculates more than 700,000 benchmarks daily covering approximately 98 percent of the investable market globally, 80 countries and more than 10,000 securities. Approximately $5.2 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell Indexes.

We are pleased to be joining the Russell Microcap Index and look forward to increased exposure to the investment community, said Neil K. Warma, President and Chief Executive Officer of Opexa. This listing provides an additional opportunity to generate interest in Opexa as we continue to make progress on our Abili-T clinical trial and leverage our T-cell immunotherapy platform.

Members of the Russell Microcap Index are automatically included in the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.

About Opexa

Opexas mission is to lead the field of Precision Immunotherapy by aligning the interests of patients, employees and shareholders. The Companys leading therapy candidate, Tcelna, is a personalized T-cell immunotherapy that is in a Phase IIb clinical development program (the Abili-T trial) for the treatment of Secondary Progressive MS. Tcelna is derived from T-cells isolated from a patients peripheral blood, expanded ex vivo, and reintroduced into the patient via subcutaneous injections. This process triggers a potent immune response against specific subsets of autoreactive T-cells known to attack myelin.

About Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

MS is a chronic, inflammatory condition of the central nervous system and is the most common, non-traumatic, disabling neurological disease in young adults. It is estimated that approximately two million people have MS worldwide.

While symptoms can vary, the most common symptoms of MS include blurred vision, numbness or tingling in the limbs and problems with strength and coordination. The relapsing forms of MS are the most common. The Secondary Progressive form of MS represents about a third of the MS patient population.

About Tcelna

Tcelna is a potential personalized therapy that is under development to be specifically tailored to each patient's disease profile. Tcelna is manufactured using ImmPath, Opexa's proprietary method for the production of a patient-specific T-cell immunotherapy, which encompasses the collection of blood from the MS patient, isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, generation of an autologous pool of myelin-reactive T-cells (MRTCs) raised against selected peptides from myelin basic protein (MBP), myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) and proteolipid protein (PLP), and the return of these expanded, irradiated T-cells back to the patient. These attenuated T-cells are reintroduced into the patient via subcutaneous injection to trigger a therapeutic immune system response.

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Opexa Therapeutics Joins Russell Microcap Index