Xenon Named Company of the Year by BIOTECanada

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 22, 2013 /CNW/ - Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. is pleased to announce that it has been awarded BIOTECanada's Gold Leaf Company of the Year Award for 2013.

The prestigious Gold Leaf Awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday, April 23 at the BIO International Convention in Chicago. Several thousand guests will be in attendance, representing the global life sciences community.

"We are honored to be recognized by our national industry peers in this way," commented Simon Pimstone, Xenon's President and CEO. "The team at Xenon has worked hard to create an exciting pipeline of products and have executed on multiple partnerships with leading industry partners. One of Xenon's early discoveries forms the active ingredient of the gene therapy product Glybera^®, which has recently been approved in Europe to treat lipoprotein lipase deficiency. Xenon's XEN402 analgesic product, which is partnered with Teva, will soon be entering phase 2b trials. This year, we also expect to file an investigational new drug (IND) application on our XEN701 antisense product for the treatment of anemia in renal disease patients who are erythropoietin (EPO) resistant or EPO intolerant. 2013 promises to be a very exciting year for Xenon as we continue to advance our products for rare diseases."

About Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. Xenon is a privately owned, clinical genetics-based drug discovery and development company engaged in developing novel therapies for rare diseases. For more information, visit the Company's website at http://www.xenon-pharma.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements that are not based on historical fact. These forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Dr. Robin Sherrington, SVP Business & Corporate Development, [phone], [email protected]

http://www.xenon-pharma.com