[April 13, 2015]

John Winkelman, M.D., Ph.D., Joins Flex Pharma's Scientific Advisory Board

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Flex Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLKS), a biotechnology company that is developing innovative and proprietary treatments for exercise-associated muscle cramps, nocturnal leg cramps, and spasms associated with severe neuromuscular conditions, today announced that John Winkelman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Sleep Disorders Clinical Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), has joined its Scientific Advisory Board.

John Winkelman, M.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Prior to MGH, he served for 17 years as Medical Director of the Sleep Health Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Winkelman's clinical work, teaching, and research focuses on the epidemiology, neurobiology, and clinical consequences of primary sleep disorders. His clinical research has included clinical trials in sleep-related movement disorders, particularly extensive involvement in the development of approved agents for restless legs syndrome (RLS). Dr. Winkelman is chair of the American Academy of Neurology practice parameter committee for the treatment RLS, serves on the Executive committee of the International RLS Study Group, is an Associate Editor of Sleep and serves on the editorial boards of Sleep Medicine and CNS Drugs. He has published more than 100 articles, reviews and book chapters. Dr. Winkelman received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Psychobiology. He finished a residency in Psychiatry and a fellowship in Neurology (Sleep Disorders Medicine) at MGH.

"Dr. Winkelman brings a wealth of clinical development experience in sleep-related movement disorders which is extremely valuable to Flex Pharma as we embark on clinical studies in nocturnal leg cramps," commented Rod MacKinnon, M.D., Nobel (News - Alert) Laureate and Flex Pharma Co-Founder, Board member, an Co-Chair of the Company's Scientific Advisory Board. "Dr. Winkelman is an international thought leader in his field and his pioneering clinical work will help guide our development efforts."

Also on the Scientific Advisory Board of Flex Pharma are:

• Rod MacKinnon, M.D., Co-founder and Chair, is an Investigator at Howard Hughes (News - Alert) Medical Institute and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Professor, Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at The Rockefeller University, member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• Bruce Bean, Ph.D., Co-founder and Chair, is the Robert Winthrop Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
• David Julius, Ph.D., is a Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco and member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
• Roger Tung, Ph.D., is scientific Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc., founding scientist and former Vice President of Drug Discovery of Vertex (News - Alert) Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and a co-inventor of Lexiva® and Agenerase.
• Christopher Walsh, Ph.D., is an emeritus professor from the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. He is currently a consulting professor, Department of Chemistry at Stanford University and an advisor to the ChEM-H center at Stanford. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.

About Flex Pharma

Flex Pharma, Inc. is a biotechnology company that is developing innovative and proprietary treatments for exercise-associated muscle cramps, nocturnal leg cramps, and spasms associated with severe neuromuscular conditions. In three randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, cross-over studies, Flex Pharma's proprietary treatment has shown a statistically significant reduction in the intensity of muscle cramps in healthy normal volunteers.

Flex Pharma was founded by National Academy of Sciences members Rod MacKinnon, M.D. (2003 Nobel Laureate), and Bruce Bean, Ph.D., recognized leaders in the fields of ion channels and neurobiology, along with Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We may, in some cases, use terms such as "predicts," "believes," "potential," "proposed," "continue," "estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "may," "could," "might," "will," "should" or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things: the success and timing of ongoing and anticipated clinical studies for our current product candidates; and the timing of and our expectations for the launch of our consumer product. Various factors may cause differences between our expectations and actual results as discussed in greater detail under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC (News - Alert)). You are encouraged to read Flex Pharma's filings with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov, for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statements that we make in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.

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