Forbion Announces Successful Exit from Alantos Pharmaceuticals

Amgen to Acquire Alantos for $300M in cash

Naarden, The Netherlands, 7th June 2007 – Forbion Capital Partners today announced the achievement of another successful exit from its Forbion Capital Fund I as a result of the acquisition of Alantos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. by Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN). This is the fifth successful exit for Forbion since 2005, having realized its stakes in Glycart (2005), Borean (2006), Acorda (2006) and most recently Galapagos (2006).

Alantos is a private company developing drugs for the treatment of diabetes and inflammatory diseases. Its lead drug candidate, ALS 2-0426, is a DPP-IV inhibitor in clinical development (Phase 2a) for the treatment of type II diabetes. Forbion invested in Alantos in 2003 when it was still a German AG and participated in a follow on round in 2005, with the reincorporation of the Company as a US Inc.

Under terms of the acquisition, Amgen will pay $300 million in cash to acquire Alantos. Following completion of the transaction, Alantos will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amgen. The acquisition has been approved by the boards of directors of each company and the shareholders of Alantos. It is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2007.

Commenting on the realization, Sander Slootweg, Partner at Forbion Capital Partners, said “We are pleased to have supported Alantos for four years, through to this successful trade sale exit. This realization makes another positive return to the fund, further building on its strong performance for our investors. In our view, Amgen is well placed to take forward ALS 2-0426 as part of its growing portfolio of therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic diseases”. Moreover, we are pleased that Amgen shares our vision that the future treatment of Osteoarthritis has much to gain from Alantos’ platform of uniquely selective small molecule matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors also acquired by them in this transaction.”

-Ends-

Media enquiries:

Northbank Communications:
Annabel Entress, +44 (0)207 268 3002 / a.entress@northbankcommunications.com
Adam Michael, +44 (0)207 268 3002 / a.michael@northbankcommunications.com

For Forbion Capital Partners:
Sander Slootweg, General Partner, +31 (0) 35 699 3015, sander.slootweg@forbion.com

Notes to editors
About Forbion Capital Partners
Forbion Capital Partners invests in EU and US Life Sciences companies with a focus on human health, developing world-class products and technologies. The Forbion team has made life sciences investments since 2000 as ABN AMRO Capital Life Sciences, the venture arm of ABN AMRO Bank NV. In December of 2006 the group became independent by broadening its investor base and changed its name to Forbion Capital Partners. Since 2000, the Forbion team has successfully divested a number of investments, leaving an active portfolio now comprising 24 companies. Assets under management currently total €200 M.

To learn more about Forbion visit www.forbion.com 

About Alantos
Alantos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a chemistry-driven biopharmaceutical company with a proprietary pipeline of small molecule drugs focused in the area of type II diabetes and osteoarthritis / inflammation. With locations in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Heidelberg, Germany, Alantos Pharmaceuticals employs 45 people.

ALS 2-0426, Alantos’ lead drug, is an orally administered inhibitor of DPP-IV, which in turn inactivates glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), an important mediator of blood glucose levels following meals. Studies suggest that ALS 2-0426 is potent, highly selective and can be administered once per day. Phase 2a studies were initiated in May in collaboration with Servier, who is the development and ex-US commercialization partner for the compound.

To learn more about Alantos visit www.alantos.com

About Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN)
Amgen, Inc. discovers, develops and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new science's promise by bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing plant, to patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other serious illnesses. With a broad and deep pipeline of potential new medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to dramatically improve people's lives.

To learn more about Amgen visit www.amgen.com