HemaQuest Secures $12 Million to Advance Clinical Programs

SEATTLE, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biotechnology company developing compounds to treat sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia and EBV-related cancers, announced today the closing of a $12M Series B financing led by new investor, Aberdare Ventures. HemaQuest's investor syndicate includes Aberdare Ventures, De Novo Ventures, Forward Ventures and Lilly Ventures. The financing is intended to help advance HemaQuest's two lead products, HQK-1001 and HQK-1004, into pre-pivotal Phase 2 clinical trials. In conjunction with the financing, Naheed Misfeldt, Partner at Aberdare Ventures, has joined HemaQuest's Board of Directors.

Ronald Berenson, MD, HemaQuest's President and CEO, said, "We are excited to have Aberdare Ventures join our investor syndicate. They bring a wealth of experience in the life sciences field and we look forward to working with them as we continue to develop our products to treat life-threatening hematologic disorders. In addition, we appreciate the continued strong support from our excellent group of existing investors."

Naheed Misfeldt stated, "HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals is working in areas of increasing interest to investors and the pharmaceutical industry; serious and life-threatening orphan diseases in which patients have few therapeutic options. They have made great progress with their first two drug candidates and we look forward to working closely with the Company as these agents progress through clinical trials. In addition, we are impressed with the management team, which has considerable expertise in drug development in hematology and oncology."

ABOUT HEMAQUEST PHARMACEUTICALS

HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals (www.HemaQuest.com) is a Seattle-based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecule therapeutics based on its proprietary short chain fatty acid technologies to treat orphan hematologic diseases. HQK-1001 is an orally administered small molecule therapeutic being developed to treat the two most common hemoglobin disorders, sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. The drug candidate has advanced through Phase 1 clinical trials and is currently undergoing testing in proof of concept clinical studies in patients with sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. HQK-1004 is a unique therapy designed to treat hematologic malignancies associated with viruses. The drug candidate will begin testing in a corporate sponsored Phase 2 clinical trial in the near future.

CONTACT: Jerome Lyons, Office Manager T: 206.826.9900 jlyons@hemaquest.com