Immuno-modulation company will use funds to progress IL-7 clinical studies in US and France into Phase II and complete preclinical development of NKT/Dendritic cell activator candidate

Paris, October 25, 2006 - Cytheris, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on immuno-modulation, announced today it has raised EUR 24.3 million (USD 30.7 million approx.) through a Series B financing. The new round will be used to extend Cytheris's current IL-7 clinical studies in France and US, to move this drug forward into phase II studies and to complete the preclinical development of its new drug candidate selected from a NKT/Dendritic cell activators platform.

Cytheris attracted two new investors in this round: CDC Entreprises Innovation, a subsidiary of CDC Entreprises (France), which led the round, and ABN AMRO Capital Life Sciences (The Netherlands). Existing investors AXA Private Equity (France), Bioam (France), Crédit Agricole Private Equity (France), T2C2/Bio 2000 (Canada) and Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ) (Canada) also participated. Jones Day Paris served as the Company Counsel.

"This financing demonstrates our investors' confidence in Cytheris' approach to developing novel agents to support and enhance therapeutic immune responses for life-threatening conditions such as HIV / HCV infections and cancer," said Michel Morre, CEO of Cytheris. "We are pleased with the addition of two prestigious new investors as well as with the continued support of our existing investors."

"From the very beginning, Cytheris has stuck to the historically successful business model consisting in focusing its development on very few projects with high probability of success and blockbuster potential. More than 50 patients treated in various proof of concept studies in US and France confirm IL-7 excellent clinical tolerance and impressive activity. Our understanding is that most active or passive immunotherapies for life threatening diseases will need the indispensable support of IL-7 to make a large number of T lymphocytes available for therapeutic responses," added Morre.

"Cytheris has gathered international support bringing in Canadian and Dutch investors with this round as well as retaining the support of its existing investors," said Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Cytheris. "This international profile is an excellent fit as the company seeks to extend its current US and European clinical development and bring IL-7 to Phase II."

"We see Cytheris as a very promising investment opportunity," said Jean-Christophe Renondin, General partner at CDC Entreprises. "The company's drug candidates are based on excellent science with large broad applicability in sectors such as HCV and HIV, and cancer, and there are still a large number of unmet medical needs in these areas today. Cytheris' lead program IL-7 has the potential to make a breakthrough in those diseases."

"We have been impressed by the quality of patients' T cells after IL-7 treatment" said Bart Bergstein, Executive Director at ABN AMRO Capital Life Sciences. "We believe this will undoubtedly unlock the enormous potential of HIV, HCV and cancer immune therapies. This Cytheris investment fits our strategy of looking for companies developing drugs with high therapeutic potential."

About Cytheris
Cytheris, Paris, is a product-oriented biopharmaceutical company focused on the research and development of new and critical agents for immune modulation. These drugs aim at reconstituting, enhancing or modulating the immune system activity of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases. The company's lead compound is a recombinant Interleukin-7 (rIL-7) a critical growth factor for immune T Cells. It has a second family of products based on NKT ligands in-licensed from New-York University, the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the City University of New-York. Cytheris has a strong network of collaborations with world-leading academic and clinical teams as well as pharmaceutical companies. The company was founded in 1999 and today employs around 20 experienced people in Europe and in the USA. The company, based in Issy les Moulineaux, Paris, has a subsidiary in Rockville (MD-USA). Website: www.cytheris.com

About CDC Entreprises Innovation
CDC Entreprises Innovation (CDC EI), a subsidiary of CDC Entreprises, invests in high tech businesses with strong growth perspectives primarily in three sectors: information and communication technologies, healthcare, and semi-conductor industries. The company has over EUR 365 M under management served by nine professional investors. CDC EI has made numerous investments in the life sciences sector including: Bioring, Xytis, Scynexis, Targacept, and Zealand Pharma. www.cdcentreprises.fr

About ABN AMRO Capital Life Sciences
ABN AMRO Capital Life-sciences (AAC LS) invests in biotech companies that develop world-class technologies with a clear focus on products. The AAC LS team focuses on drug development companies that have innovative programs and are able to show drug development proposals with clear unique advantages over current treatments. www.capital.abnamro.com

About AXA Private Equity
AXA Private Equity is a subsidiary of AXA Investment Managers, with offices in Paris, Frankfurt, London, New York and Singapore. It focuses on investments in unlisted companies and its expertise spans all types of Private Equity: Direct Funds, Funds of Funds and Private Equity Management Mandates.

AXA Private Equity independently manages and/or advises Private Equity funds with combined assets in excess of ¤ 8.5 billion for some of the world's leading investors. With a constant focus on transparency, performance and sustainable profitability, AXA Private Equity is supported by the expertise of its staff and its international experience. www.axaprivateequity.com

About Bioam
With a total commitment of ¤51 million, Bioam is a venture capital fund managed by Bioam Gestion SA dedicated to the early-stage financing of biotech companies. Bioam's mission is to finance biotech start-ups with high growth potential coming from French life science public and private research. Healthcare-sector investment focus includes biopharmaceuticals, medical instrumentation and diagnosis systems. www.bioam.fr

About Crédit Agricole Private Equity
Crédit Agricole Private Equity is an asset management company belonging to Crédit Agricole S.A. Approved by the French securities regulator, the AMF, the company makes private equity investments in unlisted companies. A team of 30 experts in Later-Stage Financing & LBO, Venture Capital, Secondary Market and Mezzanine manages ¤1.4 billion through private equity funds (FCPRs and FCPIs) and private equity companies (SCRs). C.A.P.E. enables company managers to implement their growth plans. www.ca-privateequity.com

About T2C2
T2C2 (Technology Transfer, Commercialization, Capital) has the mission to identify early Life sciences R&D opportunities in public or private research centres and turn them into sustainable commercial businesses. With financing from its second venture capital fund of CDN$104M T2C2 has a portfolio of a dozen companies half of which are in clinical trials in human. www.T2C2capital.com