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DEVELOGEN COMPLETES 19 MILLION EURO FINANCING ROUND Goettingen,
Germany, Rehovot, Israel - 17 May 2004 – DeveloGen
AG, a biology-driven drug discovery company developing novel therapies for
diabetes and obesity, announced today that its shareholders have approved the
merger with Peptor Ltd. The shareholders of Peptor have also approved the merger
first announced in November 2003. Peptor is a biopharmaceutical company engaged
in discovery and development of therapeutics to treat diabetes and other
autoimmune diseases. In
conjunction with the approval of the merger, a third round of financing of 19
Million EURO has been closed. The investment is led by Techno Venture Management
(TVM) and includes Nomura Phase4 Ventures, DVC Deutsche Venture Capital,
Alpinvest Partners, Global Life Science Ventures, Dansk Kapitalanlaeg and
Aventis. The
merger creates an integrated European based biopharmaceutical company with a
deep clinical, pre-clinical and discovery pipeline of medicines to treat
metabolic diseases. DeveloGen’s lead product, DiaPep277TM, is in
phase 2 clinical trials for type 1 diabetes. Aventis has just returned
full rights to DiaPep277TM previously licensed by Peptor to Aventis.
In addition, DeveloGen has two late-stage pre-clinical products, scheduled to
enter the clinic in 2005. The clinical pipeline is complemented by an innovative
and rich portfolio of discovery programmes focussed on metabolic disease. The
new company is named DeveloGen and is led by Dr. Guenther Karmann as CEO and
Carsten Dehning as CFO. It is based in Goettingen and Erkrath, Germany, and
Rehovot, Israel. Commenting
on the merger Guenther Karmann, DeveloGen CEO said: “These two steps, the
approval of the merger and the closing of the financing round are very important
milestones on our way to build a metabolic disease focussed drug discovery and
development company. Leading investors are backing our business model and the
DeveloGen team.” Helmut
Schuehsler, managing partner of TVM, added: “The merged company has all the
necessary ingredients for a successful investment: A clear and market-driven
strategy, a strong pipeline and a convincing management.” About
DeveloGen AG DeveloGen
is a biology driven drug discovery company developing novel therapies
for metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. For the treatment
of type 1 diabetes, DiaPep 277TM acts to protect the
insulin producing beta cells from autoimmune destruction. DiaPep 277TM
is currently in late stage phase 2 clinical testing. The Pax4 program aims
to help the body to regenerate its own beta cells. To discover novel treatments
for type 2 diabetes and obesity, DeveloGen has identified a number of
highly validated novel targets which are currently in advanced stages of drug
discovery. Diabetic complications is the third area of focus within metabolic
diseases. DeveloGen started
operations in 1998 in Goettingen, Germany and merged with Peptor, Israel, in
2004. For more information, please visit: www.develogen.com Contact: DeveloGen
AG
Kathrin Shem-Tov Rudolf-Wissell-Str.
28 Manager
Corporate Affairs 37079
Goettingen
Phone:
+49 (0) 551-50 558 525 Germany
Fax:
+49 (0) 551-50 558 586 E-mail:
shem-tov@develogen.com |
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