Pronota strengthens board with appointment of Chairman

Ghent, BELGIUM, 29 May 2007. Pronota nv, the Belgium-based predictive biomarker company, has announced the appointment of Mr John Berriman as Chairman, with immediate effect.

John Berriman is the Chairman of Algeta ASA and a member of the board of directors of MicroMet Inc, Ablynx nv and Oxxon Therapeutics Holdings Inc. Previously, he was a director of Abingworth Management, where he was involved in founding and financing and also served as director of several biotechnology companies in Europe and in the US, many of which obtained listings on public stock exchanges. Prior to that Mr Berriman spent 14 years with Celltech Group. He was on the board of Celltech Group when it listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994 and whilst at Celltech he founded Celltech Biologics and became the business director of Celltech Therapeutics. He has also served on the boards of Solexa Ltd (director and co-founder), Chroma Therapeutics Ltd (Chairman), Epigenomics AG, Alnylam Inc and XCounter AB.

John Berriman holds a chemical engineering degree from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from the London Business School.

Commenting on the new appointment, Nick McCooke, chief executive officer of Pronota, said: “I am delighted to announce this appointment. John brings a wealth of experience in the biotechnology sector and this will be invaluable as we introduce Pronota’s technology platforms and products to the market.”

Mr Berriman commented: “Pronota is focused on researching and developing protein-based diagnostic and pharmacodiagnostic products. Its advanced technology promises to lead to products which detect, classify and monitor diseases earlier and with greater accuracy than is currently possible and which also distinguish between patients who will and will not respond to a given drug. I am pleased to join the team at this exciting stage of the company’s development.”

Mr John Berriman



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Notes to editors:

About Pronota nv

Pronota (formerly known as Peakadilly) is using its unique capabilities in exploring the proteomes of biological samples to build a portfolio of diagnostic products that work by analysing protein biomarkers in body fluids, typically blood. Some of these products will be designed to help detect disease at its early and most treatable stage, and others to determine the best treatment for individual patients.

Pronota’s core technology, MASStermind™, enables the comprehensive and rapid analysis of proteomes, allowing thousands of proteins to be identified per biological sample. With its unparalleled information content, Pronota’s proprietary technology platform dramatically improves the speed and success rate of protein biomarker discovery.

Pronota is also using this technology to support pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies in a wide range of contract R&D projects ranging from drug discovery through to development of pharmacodiagnostics. To date, the company has conducted projects in the areas of infectious disease, oncology and inflammation. For more information about Pronota visit http://www.pronota.com 

ENDS

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Email: pronota@northbankcommunications.com