Amphora Discovery Corporation Completes $20 Million Series C Financing

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Amphora Discovery Corporation, a next-generation drug discovery company focused on the creation of a robust pipeline of novel small molecule therapeutics, today announced it has completed a $20 million Series C financing.

The Series C round was led by the 3i Group. New investors Novartis Venture Fund, the venture arm of Novartis and Aventis Capital, the venture arm of Sanofi-Aventis , also participated in the round, along with existing venture capital investors ARCH Venture Partners, MPM Capital, Venrock Associates and Versant Ventures.

"We are pleased to announce the completion of the Series C round. The quality of both new and existing investors and their confidence in Amphora provides strong validation of the value of Amphora's programs and systems approach," said Peter G. Savas, Amphora's Chairman of the Board. "The funds raised in this round will allow Amphora to remain focused on advancing drug discovery programs for our partners as well as accelerating the preclinical development of our internal drug candidates."

Amphora Discovery Corporation is a privately held next-generation drug discovery company with a highly industrialized approach to pathway-based drug discovery of therapeutics for human diseases. Amphora's lead generation system achieves an unmatched level of precision, sensitivity and data quality, which has resulted in the rapid and efficient creation of a robust discovery and preclinical pipeline of well characterized compounds in oncology, inflammation, metabolic diseases and neurological disorders. Two of Amphora's most advanced compounds are preclinical candidates in the areas of oncology and inflammation that are specific inhibitors for AKT1 and p38A, respectively. Amphora is based in the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, with offices in Los Altos, California. For more information, visit the company's web site at http://www.amphoracorp.com/ .

For more information: Tracy Thompson Corporate Communications Tel. (919) 287-6177 Tracy.Thompson@amphoracorp.com Or Zack Kubow The Ruth Group Tel. (646) 536-7020 zkubow@theruthgroup.com

CONTACT: Tracy Thompson, Corporate Communications of Amphora DiscoveryCorporation, +1-919-287-6177, Tracy.Thompson@amphoracorp.com; or Zack Kubow ofThe Ruth Group, +1-646-536-7020, zkubow@theruthgroup.com

Web site: http://www.amphoracorp.com/