NADAG and SiREEN announce merger to form SIRENADE Pharmaceuticals and launch 20 million Euro financing round

Munich, Germany – 13^th January, 2003 – NADAG AG and SiREEN AG, both Munich based biotech companies, have announced their agreement to merge to form SIRENADE Pharmaceuticals AG, an integrated drug discovery and development company with clinical and preclinical projects in CNS and oncology. The Company will immediately commence a financing round to raise approximately €20m in additional investment for the combined entity.

Following the merger, investors including 3i, ABN Amro, Deutsche VC and Renaissance Ventures have committed to invest around a further €11m in the Company, with the balance of the €20m being sought from a consortium of international investors. Bioscience Managers Limited (BML) acted as advisors in the merger and will continue to advise SIRENADE through the financing round. The terms of the merger were not disclosed.

SIRENADE Pharmaceuticals will capitalise on the strengths of its fully integrated R&D engine with four clinical projects in phase I/II for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and migraine, and three preclinical projects in Alzheimer’s disease and oncology. Post merger the Company will employ 28 staff and will remain based in Munich, Germany.

Commenting on the merger, Dr Pierfausto Seneci, currently CEO of NADAG and future CEO of SIRENADE Pharmaceuticals, said:

“There is a huge increase of value for both merger partners in this agreement. Clinical opportunities with low risk but significant advantages will be progressed in parallel with innovative preclinical projects in unmet medical need fields such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and colon cancer. Cutting edge competence at SIRENADE will ensure the progression of these projects, whilst our strong kinase-oriented knowledge and technology will enable us to feed the pipeline with innovative early opportunities.”

Dr Ulrich Lohmann, currently CEO of SiREEN and future Chief Business Development Officer of SIRENADE, added:

“The goal of SIRENADE is to significantly increase the value of the Company by conducting clinical trials on in-house generated and on in-licensed candidates. This strategy will drive intensive business development for our late-stage compounds with large sales potential.”

Commenting on the deal, Dr Olivier Litzka, Investment Manager with 3i, said:

“This merger demonstrates the co-operation between all stakeholders in both parties, including management, employees, boards, shareholders and VCs to drive a significant and rational consolidation in the biotech market. SIRENADE Pharmaceuticals is well positioned in CNS with a balanced and risk adjusted pipeline, and will develop into a meaningful small molecule cancer company driven by strong expertise in kinase biology.”

Dr Alexander Asam, Partner of Deutsche Venture Capital, adds:

“SIRENADE Pharmaceuticals will apply its funds to developing its clinical compounds through clinical proof of concept in man during the next two years and to progressing the current preclinical products into the clinic. The investors are confident in the ability of the management to capitalise on the numerous and exclusive assets of SIRENADE and to add value to the Company.”  

- ENDS -

Notes to editors

1.       SiREEN AG is a preclinical drug discovery company that combines molecular biology, structural biology, cellular biology and chemistry expertise. It is specialised in early research on kinase targets, and has developed a proprietary biological and structural kinase discovery platform. Tools to monitor and improve the selectivity profiles of hits and leads allow prediction and tracking of possible side effects with significant impact on later clinical trials. SiREEN focuses on oncology diseases with significant unmet medical need, such as colon cancer. SiREEN employs 20 people and is based in Munich, Germany.  www.sireen.de

2.       NADAG is a drug discovery company with clinical and preclinical projects. Clinical opportunities derive from internal projects and from the in-licensing of carefully selected opportunities. Core preclinical competences are in cellular biology, pharmacology and chemistry, mostly applied on kinase targets. NADAG has developed a proprietary chemical kinase discovery platform to identify and optimise kinase-directed patentable hits and leads. NADAG focuses on neurodegenerative diseases with significant unmet medical need, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. NADAG employs 12 people and is based in Munich, Germany.

For further information, please contact:

Media enquiries: Sue Charles, CEO Northbank Communications, tel. +44 (0)20 7886 8152, mobile +44 (0)7968 726858,
email s.charles@northbankcommunications.com

At SIRENADE: Pierfausto Seneci, CEO, tel: +49 (0)89 5080 8230, mobile +49 (0)151 1534 4143,
email pierfausto.seneci@nadag.de