OCTOPLUS : announces expansion of drug delivery contract with top-5

OCTOPLUS ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF DRUG DELIVERY CONTRACT WITH TOP-5 PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY Leiden, the Netherlands, 5 January 2012 - OctoPlus N.V. ("OctoPlus" or the "Company") (Euronext: OCTO) announces today that it has won an expansion of its drug delivery technology evaluation contract with an existing client, a top-5 global pharmaceutical company. OctoPlus has performed feasibility work for previous compounds of this client in 2009 and 2010 and those studies have been successful. Pre-clinical studies performed with the prototype controlled release formulation were also successful.

Under the contract announced today, we will develop a controlled release formulation that combines the client's optimized product candidate with our proprietary drug delivery technology PolyActive®. If the project is successful, the contract may progress to a full process development
and manufacturing contract, and a licensing agreement.

For further information, please contact:

Rianne Roukema, Corporate Communications: telephone number [phone], or send an e-mail to Investor Relations at [e-mail].

About OctoPlus

OctoPlus is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and manufacture of improved injectable pharmaceuticals based on our proprietary drug delivery technologies that exhibit fewer side effects, improved patient convenience and a better efficacy/safety balance than existing therapies. OctoPlus also focuses on the development of long-acting, controlled release versions of known protein therapeutics, peptides and small molecules, including specialty generics.
The clinically most advanced product incorporating our technology is Locteron®, a controlled release formulation of interferon alpha for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. OctoPlus licensed Locteron exclusively to Biolex in October 2008. Locteron is being manufactured for Biolex by OctoPlus and has completed Phase IIb clinical studies with superior clinical data versus current treatment.
In addition, OctoPlus is a leading European provider of advanced drug formulation and clinical scale manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, with a focus on difficult-to-formulate active pharmaceutical ingredients.
OctoPlus is listed on NYSE Euronext in Amsterdam under the symbol OCTO. For more information about OctoPlus, please visit our website www.octoplus.nl.
This document may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to the business, financial performance and results of the Company and the industry in which it operates. These statements are based on OctoPlus N.V.'s current plans, estimates and projections, as well as its expectations of external conditions and events. In particular the words "expect", "anticipate", "predict", "estimate", "project", "plan", "may", "should", "would", "will", "intend", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We caution investors that a number of important factors, and the inherent risks and uncertainties that such statements

involve, could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially tram those expressed in any forward-looking statements. In the event of any inconsistency between an English version and a Dutch version of this document, the English version wi/1 prevail aver the Dutch version.