MAYWOOD, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 2005--Nymox Pharmaceutical Corporation (NASDAQ:NYMX) announced today that its tobacco exposure testing technology has proven to be a valuable aid for counseling expectant mothers about the risks posed by tobacco use and exposure to themselves and their unborn children. Under the direction of the Medical Director, Dr. Terrence McGaw, MD, and Tamara Baumann, APN RNC, the Washoe Pregnancy Center in Reno, Nevada, has successfully been using Nymox's NicAlert(TM) product as a teaching tool and counseling aid in order to show expectant mothers the level of their tobacco use and exposure.

According to Dr. McGaw, "NicAlert(TM) allows me to focus on the result of the test as an entree into a short discussion about the patient's use of tobacco, ability to avoid exposure to tobacco or continued success at avoiding all tobacco products."

"The NicAlert(TM) strips are a wonderful teaching tool for our nurses," said Tamara Baumann. "It helps them to understand the absorption of second hand smoke as well as for the moms who smoke to understand how much cotinine is in their body system. Once they see the result and receive counseling on the effects of nicotine on their fetus it helps them to cut down and eventually stop smoking."

Nymox's NicAlert(TM) product provides a proven, easy-to-use, on-site means of determining an individual's use of or exposure to tobacco products. The product gives a visual read-out of the level of tobacco use or exposure within minutes and requires no instruments to use. NicAlert(TM) has received U.S. FDA clearance for medical use for determining an individual's exposure to tobacco products.

It is well-known that women who smoke during pregnancy are at high risk for pregnancy complications and their children are at increased risk for low birth weight, upper and lower respiratory infections and other conditions. Several studies have shown that expectant mothers can minimize or deny their smoking behavior, making counseling more difficult. Other studies have shown that exposure to second hand smoke during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of lower birth weight and preterm delivery.

NicAlert(TM) uses powerful, one-step patented technology to measure the level of cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine, in urine. Cotinine is widely accepted and commonly used in medical research and public health studies to determine the extent of tobacco product use or exposure. NicAlert(TM) testing can be performed almost anywhere, including at home, the workplace or school.

Independent studies have found the technology employed in NicAlert(TM) to be an accurate, rapid and cost-effective means of confirming smoking status. One study, "Validating a Dipstick Method for Detecting Recent Smoking," Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (2002; 11:1123-1125) examined the smoking status of patients at a cancer clinic and found that the results obtained using Nymox's tobacco product exposure test had an "excellent agreement" with state-of-the-art sophisticated laboratory measurements but at a substantially lower cost (over 90% less). Another peer-reviewed study, "The Accuracy of Self-Reported Smoking Status Assessed by Cotinine Test Strips," Nicotine & Tobacco Research (2002; 4:305-9) found Nymox's product to be "an inexpensive and rapid method to routinely bio-chemically confirm smoking status at a clinical visit." The authors described the Nymox product as a "simple, inexpensive and rapid measure to immediately confirm smoking status in field settings."

The U.S. Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and many other public health organizations have targeted tobacco use as the single most preventable cause of premature death today. The CDC estimates that smoking causes over 440,000 premature deaths annually in the United States and creates an economic loss of over $150 billion a year. Worldwide, the WHO estimates that tobacco use and exposure currently kills 4.9 million people a year and that this death toll will rise to 10 million a year by 2020.

In February 2005, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control came into effect in 57 countries. The treaty requires the adoption and implementation of measures to reduce exposure to second hand smoke, to diagnose tobacco dependence and to promote tobacco use cessation.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and the actual results and future events could differ materially from management's current expectations. Such factors are detailed from time to time in Nymox's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.