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 Nereus Pharmaceuticals Raises $23.6 Million In Second Round Of FinancingInvestment from Leading Firms Allows Expansion of Marine Microbial Drug Discovery Program San Diego, California - July 30, 2001 - Nereus Pharmaceuticals Inc., an emerging leader in drug discovery and development, today announced the completion of a $23.6 million second round of venture financing. Pacific Venture Group of Redwood Shores, California led the round. Other new investors include Novartis Bioventure Fund of Basel, Switzerland, China Development Industrial Bank of Taipei, Taiwan, Blue Dot Capital of Singapore, Hong Kong-based Lotus Biosciences Ventures and Zurich-based Swiss 1st. Series A investors from the first round returned to increase their stake in the company by $12 million. Significant previous investors include Forward Ventures of San Diego, Alta Partners of San Francisco, GIMV n.v. of Antwerp, Belgium, JAFCO of Tokyo, Japan, and Tech Amp International of Durham, North Carolina. "Since the completion of our first round of financing, Nereus has made significant progress toward its goal of establishing itself as a leader in the discovery and development of novel drugs from marine microorganisms," said Kobi Sethna, President and CEO of Nereus. "We see the presence of such top-tier investors behind us as validation of our business plan. This funding will lay the groundwork for the continued expansion of our microbial drug discovery program, expand our hiring efforts and increase the development efforts of our lead TNF-àlpha Synthesis/IL-1 inhibitor compound that provides powerful anti-inflammatory properties in a convenient, orally available form." "Nereus is developing a cutting-edge drug discovery program based specifically on marine microbiology and we believe this new source of chemical diversity could deliver medicinally-relevant, marketable products," said Annette Bianchi, Partner at Pacific Venture Group. Additionally, Jean Deleage, Managing Partner, Alta Partners, stated that "The scientific and technical expertise of Nereus, together with the advanced equipment and proprietary screening technology it possesses, has produced a marine microbial drug discovery program. Furthermore, the drugs already in Nereus' product pipeline validate this program." "We continue to feel that Nereus is developing a drug-discovery process that will ultimately deliver important medicinal products to patients," said Stan Fleming, Managing Partner at Forward Ventures. "Nereus is identifying novel compounds with potent biological activity. We are excited about being able to back this innovative biotechnology company."
Broad Development Pipeline NPI-1302a-3 is an orally administered tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-à) synthesis and IL-1 inhibitor that will initially be targeted at RA. Based on laboratory models, NPI-1302a-3 potentially offers an improved efficacy and safety profile and dosing convenience over conventional RA treatments. Nereus expects to develop NPI-1302a-3 along with a host of other anti-cancer and anti-infective drugs that are orally bio-available with improved safety and efficacy profiles. The company has added to its broad development pipeline through an exclusive license with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, entitling the company to extensive novel marine microorganism discoveries. This product-oriented strategy will enable the company to quickly leverage new discoveries and turn them into clinical treatments. 
About Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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