UK Based Biopharmaceutical Company, Thiakis Receives $19 Million Series A Investment For Development Of Obesity Therapy

London, UK, 21 August 2006 – Thiakis Limited, a UK based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of peptide hormones for the treatment of obesity, announces it has completed a £10 million ($19 million) Series A financing round. The investment syndicate was jointly led by Novo A/S and Advent Venture Partners, both leading international life science venture capital groups. Martin Edwards of Novo A/S and Raj Parekh of Advent Venture Partners will join the Board of Thiakis.

Thiakis will use the funds to develop its oxyntomodulin peptides for the treatment of obesity through preclinical development and into the clinic and to expand its pipeline of development projects.

In addition to Novo A/S and Advent Venture Partners, the Series A financing round included substantial participation from existing shareholder Imperial Innovations as well as new investors – The Royal Society, Esperante, Consensus Business Group and NPI Ventures. “I am delighted to be announcing the completion of Thiakis’ first institutional financing round, led by two venture capital groups that bring to Thiakis significantly more than their capital, at an important stage in Thiakis’ development. In addition, the participation of The Royal Society in this financing is a testament to the strength of the science that underpins Thiakis’ programmes,” commented Dr John Burt, Chief Executive Officer of Thiakis.

Dr Martin Edwards said: “Novo are delighted to co-lead this significant investment in Thiakis. We are very excited by Professor Bloom’s work in the field of gut hormones and appetite control and are delighted to have the opportunity to finance this young company which is built around his world leading expertise in the field.”

“The clinical research already conducted using oxyntomodulin by the Thiakis team has shown the unique potential of this approach for a safe and highly effective treatment for obesity,” Dr Raj Parekh commented. “We look forward to working with this pioneering team to build Thiakis into a major new UK–based biotechnology company.” Susan Searle, CEO, Imperial Innovations said, “We are delighted that Thiakis has attracted investors of Novo and Advent Venture Partners’ calibre to support the advancement of this important therapeutic programme from Imperial College . Our own investment is a sign of our continuing confidence in the technology and we look forward to helping the company progress to the next stage of its development.” With the completion of this Series A financing, Dr Mike Hayes, Chairman of Biotica (Cambridge, UK) and former Executive Vice-President (R&D), Amersham Biosciences has joined the Thiakis board as an independent non-executive director.

ENQUIRIES Thiakis Limited Dr John Burt, Chief Executive Officer telephone: +44 (0)207 594 1059; email: j.burt@thiakis.com

Novo A/S Dr Martin Edwards, Partner telephone: +45 3079 1459; email: med@novo.dk Advent Venture Partners Dr Raj Parekh, Partner telephone: +44 (0)207 932 2100; email: raj.parekh@adventventures.com

Imperial Innovations Lucy Ahfong, Marketing Officer telephone: +44 (0)207 594 6644; email: l.ahfong@imperial.ac.uk

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