Cellceutix Advancing Treatment for Hidradenitis Suppurativa, Pre-IND Meeting Request to Food and Drug Administration

BEVERLY, MA--(Marketwired - Mar 16, 2015) - Cellceutix Corporation (OTC: CTIX) (the "Company"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies with oncology, dermatology, and antimicrobial applications, is pleased to inform shareholders that further to the Company's press release on March 2, 2015, Cellceutix is this week submitting a request with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) meeting to initiate a clinical study for one of the Company's Host Defense Proteins (HDPs) for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).

Hidradenitis suppurativa (also known as acne inversa) is a chronic and debilitating inflammatory skin disease characterized by recurrent abscesses and formation of sinus tracts, typically where skin rubs together, such as the armpits, groin, between the buttocks and under the breasts. Although the first published case was 176 years ago, the etiology of HS, which causes significant physical and psychosocial distress to both men and women, remains largely understood with no cure and only limited effective treatment options. Reports of prevalence range widely from approximately one-half a percent up to approximately four percent of the general population.

"Our team continues to analyze very promising data on our HDP mimetic for HS and we are excited to be moving ahead with this indication," commented Dr. Krishna Menon, Chief Scientific Officer at Cellceutix. "HS presents in many different forms and it is unclear the exact role of bacteria in the pathogenesis of HS, but a number of hard-to-treat bacteria species (i.e. Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, enterobacteriaceae) are commonly isolated in HS lesions, many of which our novel HDPs have been shown to be active against. We look forward to a meeting with the FDA in preparation for an IND filing and clinical study to treat this condition that plagues so many people."

In other corporate developments, Cellceutix is also pleased to inform shareholders that Nasdaq has responded to the Company with a "request for additional information" regarding Cellceutix's application to be listed on the Nasdaq exchange. Cellceutix executives and legal counsel are preparing the requisite information as requested as part of the move to uplist to Nasdaq.