iCo Therapeutics Grants Options to Directors, Officers and Employees

VANCOUVER, Canada— iCo Therapeutics Inc. (TSX-V: ICO)

iCo Therapeutics (the “Company”) announced today that on December 29, 2009 the Company granted a total of 725,000 stock options to directors, officers and employees of the Company. The stock options are exercisable into common shares of the Company at an exercise price of $0.54 for a period of five years and are subject to vesting requirements. The Company’s common shares closed at $0.54 on the TSX Venture Exchange on December 29, 2009.

Under the Company’s Stock Option Plan, the Company has a total of 3,200,000 common shares reserved for the issuance of stock options, representing approximately 8.4% of the Company’s 38,285,426 common shares outstanding. Including the December 29, 2009 option grant, the Company currently has 2,521,429 options issued and outstanding, representing approximately 6.6% of the Company’s common shares outstanding.

About iCo Therapeutics
iCo Therapeutics Inc. is a Vancouver-based reprofiling company focused on redosing or reformulating drugs with clinical history for new or expanded indications. iCo has exclusive worldwide rights to three products. iCo-007 is a second generation antisense candidate licensed from Isis Pharmaceuticals. iCo-007 is currently in a Phase I trial in Diabetic Macular Edema patients with compelling early data. iCo-008 is a human monoclonal antibody against eotaxin-1 with Phase II clinical history, licensed from AstraZeneca/MedImmune. iCo-009 is an oral reformulation of a generic anti-fungal and anti-parasitic intravenous drug licensed from the University of British Columbia. To date, iCo has reported positive preclinical results for iCo-009. iCo Therapeutics trades on the TSX-Venture exchange under the symbol “ICO”. For more information, visit the company website at: icotherapeutics.cdmail.biz

No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the content of this release. The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this press release may be considered forward-looking. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on iCo Therapeutics’ current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to iCo Therapeutics and relate to, among other things, anticipated financial performance, business prospects, strategies, regulatory developments, market acceptance and future commitments. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by iCo Therapeutics in its public securities filings; actual events may differ materially from current expectations. iCo Therapeutics disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.