SOURCE: TOPIGEN Pharmceuticals, Inc.

August 15, 2007 08:00 ET

TOPIGEN Secures C$26M (US$25M) in Series C Venture Financing

Additional Funding Accelerates Respiratory Clinical Product Pipeline

MONTREAL--(Marketwire - August 15, 2007) - TOPIGEN Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in respiratory disorders, today announced the closing of C$26 million (US$25 million) in a Series C financing round. The total amount raised by TOPIGEN from all sources is C$75 million (US$71 million), including C$62 million (US$59 million) in equity, further strengthening the company's position as a global leader in respiratory therapeutics. The investment accelerates TOPIGEN's current Phase II clinical programs relating to its lead products, TPI 1020, a small-molecule drug in development for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and TPI ASM8, its RNA-inhibiting therapeutic for asthma.

In this round, new investors NovaQuest and MMV Financial, Inc., join the existing venture investors: BDC Venture Capital, Desjardins Venture Capital, Caisse de Dépot et Placement du Québec (Caisse), T2C2/BIO 2000 and Lothian Partners 27 (sarl) SICAR. Additional funds and investors may be added to this financing.

Patricia Lamothe, TOPIGEN's Chief Financial Officer, commented, "We are delighted to add NovaQuest and MMV Financial to our investor group. The additional financing underscores the continuing confidence in our product candidates and in the potential of those products to create a significant breakthrough in the treatment of respiratory diseases."

Ben Cons, Vice President, NovaQuest, noted, "Our investment in TOPIGEN further deepens our strategic partnership with the company by helping it develop a portfolio of innovative respiratory drugs. Over the past three years, NovaQuest and Quintiles have provided TOPIGEN with strategic drug development advice alongside the provision of development programs to support the advancement of TOPIGEN's clinical-stage portfolio. It is a great fit for our organization and we look forward to working with the company as it continues to advance its respiratory product candidates."

Charles Fong, Ph.D., Director, BDC Venture Capital, said, "We are proud to be associated with TOPIGEN, a leading company in the respiratory field, with two drugs in Phase II development and a management team that consistently delivers against its business plan."

About NovaQuest

NovaQuest, the strategic partnering group of Quintiles Transnational, is an industry pioneer in offering tailored financial and operational solutions that help pharmaceutical and biotech companies overcome development and commercialization challenges. Its unique managed-partnership approach ensures sponsorship by senior-level executives; access to global development and commercial resources and expertise; and efficient operational delivery of services. Since 2000, NovaQuest partnerships have committed more than $2 billion in capital to pharmaceutical and biotech companies of all sizes. For more information, please visit www.novaquest.com.

About BDC Venture Capital

BDC Venture Capital is a major venture capital investor in Canada, active at every stage of a company's development cycle, from seed through expansion. Its focus is on technology-based businesses with high growth potential that are positioned to become dominant players in their markets. Established in 1975, BDC Venture Capital has invested in over 400 firms to date. It currently manages some $500 million in venture capital investments in the life sciences, telecommunications, information technology, and advanced technology sectors, as well as investments in funds. Visit www.bdc.ca for more information.

About TOPIGEN

TOPIGEN is a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing new classes of inhaled drugs for respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and allergic rhinitis. TOPIGEN is developing a portfolio of drug products using proprietary mRNA-based chemistry and nitric-oxide modified steroid technology. These platforms enable the targeting of multiple pathways and pro-inflammatory mediators involved in chronic pulmonary diseases.

TOPIGEN's development approach is to selectively suppress pulmonary inflammation by delivering targeted drugs directly to the site of cellular action in the lung through inhalation. In contrast to the non-specific blocking of multiple signaling pathways used by existing marketed respiratory products, TOPIGEN focuses on specifically blocking multiple disease pathways for significantly improved drug delivery. The company has two lead product candidates, inhaled TPI 1020 for the treatment of COPD and inhaled TPI ASM8 for the treatment of asthma. Both are currently undergoing Phase II trials. For more detailed information on TOPIGEN, visit www.topigen.com.