Investor Relations Stephanie Ascher Stern Investor Relations, Inc. 212-362-1200 stephanie@sternir.com Constantine Theodoropulos Base Pair Communications 617-401-3116 constantine@basepaircomm.com REXAHN PHARMACE

REXAHN PHARMACEUTICALS PROVIDES KEY GOALS FOR 2012

Rockville, MD, January 17, 2012 - Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: RNN), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company commercializing oncology and CNS therapeutics, today provided guidance on its key pipeline, scientific and business goals for 2012.

"Rexahn has made the decision to focus in the near term on our oncology program after evaluating how best to apply our resources in order to realize near term value appreciation for our shareholders," stated Dr. Chang Ahn, Chairman and CEO of Rexahn. "We have sufficient funding to carry the company forward through 2012. The accelerated development of the company's potent anti-cancer compounds will enable Rexahn to drive short term value while supporting our longer term competitive position."

Dr. Ahn added, "Though we were disappointed in the Serdaxin Phase IIb results that we announced in November 2011, we are pleased with the important progress made during the year in our oncology programs. Due to this progress we are in a position to achieve several key milestones in 2012. In the next 12 to 18 months, we expect to substantially add to and advance our oncology pipeline by taking multiple compounds into human trials, as well as to aggressively seek partnerships for several of our oncology assets."

Rexahn Goals for 2012:

About Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing first in class and market leading therapeutics for cancer, CNS disorders, sexual dysfunction and other unmet medical needs. Rexahn currently has three drug candidates in Phase II clinical trials, Archexin , Serdaxin , and Zoraxel and a robust pipeline of preclinical compounds to treat multiple cancers and CNS disorders. Rexahn also operates key R&D programs of nano-medicines, 3D-GOLD, and TIMES drug discovery platforms. For more information, please visit www.rexahn.com.

To the extent any statements made in this press release deal with information that is not historical, these are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Rexahn's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations and products and other statements identified by words such as "will," "potential," "could," "can," "believe," "intends," "continue," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "may," other words of similar meaning or the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Uncertainties and risks may cause Rexahn's actual results to be materially different than those expressed in or implied by Rexahn's forward-looking statements. For Rexahn, particular uncertainties and risks include, among others, the difficulty of developing pharmaceutical products, obtaining regulatory and other approvals and achieving market acceptance; the marketing success of Rexahn's licensees or sublicensees; the success of clinical testing; and Rexahn's need for and ability to obtain additional financing. More detailed information on these and additional factors that could affect Rexahn's actual results are described in Rexahn's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release. Rexahn undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.