Arete Therapeutics Closes $16.7 Million in Final Tranche of Its Series A Financing

HAYWARD, Calif., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Arete Therapeutics Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company developing first-in-class soluble epoxide hydrolase (s-EH) inhibitors, today announced that it has closed the final tranche of its Series A financing. Frazier Healthcare Ventures and Alta Partners co-led the $16.7 million tranche, which also included existing investors Burrill & Company, Three Arch Partners, and Altitude Life Science Ventures. This financing completes the Series A round, bringing the total amount raised to date to over $51 million.

"This financing provides substantial funding for Arete as we look toward the initiation of our Phase II clinical trial in the first quarter of 2009 using AR9281 for the treatment of metabolic syndrome," said James Sabry, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Arete Therapeutics. "We appreciate our investors' continued commitment to the value of our s-EH inhibitor platform."

"In the last six months, Arete successfully completed a Phase I clinical trials' program for AR9281, expanded its executive management team and completed extensive preclinical studies of s-EH inhibitors," stated James Topper, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of the Board of Arete Therapeutics and General Partner of Frazier Healthcare Ventures. "Arete's extensive proprietary position in s-EH inhibitors, together with its efficient, focused drug discovery and development organization, position the Company to address the growing healthcare epidemic of metabolic syndrome and identify new therapeutics for cardiovascular and inflammatory disease."

About Arete Therapeutics Inc.

Arete Therapeutics is a privately-held biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel drugs to treat metabolic, inflammatory and cardiovascular disease. It is the world's leading company focused on s-EH (soluble epoxide hydrolase), an important enzyme for the metabolism of arachidonic acid that plays an essential role in metabolic, inflammatory and cardiovascular physiology. The Company was founded by Dr. Bruce Hammock, a Professor at the University of California, Davis, who discovered s-EH. For more information on Arete Therapeutics, please visit http://www.aretetherapeutics.com.

Source: Arete Therapeutics Inc.