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BioXell Raises Additional €10.5 million in Private Financing


WEBWIRE

Milan, Italy, 15th March, 2006 –BioXell today announced that it has raised €10.5 million in financing through an extension of the Series C round concluded in October, 2004. International life science investor TVM Capital led the financing, while BB Biotech, Index Ventures and Life Science Partners also increased their position in the Company. Hubert Birner of TVM Capital will join BioXell’s Board of Directors. The NEXT fund of Finlombarda, the financial services firm of the Lombardy region, also used the financing round as an opportunity to invest in one of Italy ’s high profile biotechnology companies.

The new funds bring the total raised to date to €73 million in private financing since the Company was spun out from Roche over 4 years ago. In that time BioXell has built a strong portfolio of clinical and preclinical compounds to treat urological and inflammatory diseases. BXL628, the company’s lead product candidate, has already successfully completed a Phase IIa trial in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), and now has a 500 patient Phase IIb trial currently underway in the same indication. BXL628 is being studied in two additional Phase IIa trials in Overactive Bladder (OAB) and Non-Bacterial Chronic Prostatitis (CP-CPPS), both of which will report out later this year. Last month the Company announced that it had in-licensed MNAC13, an anti-TrKA monoclonal antibody for the treatment of chronic pain, from Lay Line Genomics. These additional funds will help BioXell maintain a strong balance sheet despite its aggressive development schedule.

Francesco Sinigaglia , BioXell’s CEO, said, "We are pleased with the evolution of our Company in such a short time, from a broader research group into a more integrated and focused development company. The additional funds give us the flexibility to tap the public markets at some time in the future, and enable us to continue to focus on adding value to the Company by advancing compounds into development. TVM has a strong track record of backing winners, and we are delighted they have chosen to invest in BioXell.”

Hubert Birner, General Partner of TVM, commented, “We invested in BioXell because of the strength of the team and the breadth of the development programmes they have put in place. We see a lot of companies and quite frankly we believe that BioXell has the potential to become one of Europe ’s leading biopharmaceutical companies.”

Corporate counsel for BioXell was like in all previous financing rounds, Dr. Christoph von Einem from White & Case LLP.

About BioXell
BioXell is a private biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery and development of new treatments for urological and inflammatory disorders that represent large, currently underserved markets. The Company’s goal is to become a market leader in urology by maximizing the commercial potential of its lead compound, BXL628, building a leading urology franchise, and leveraging existing platforms into profitable collaborations.

With analogues based on its proprietary Vitamin D3 technology platform, BioXell has three Phase II clinical programmes underway, specifically evaluating BXL628 for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, Overactive Bladder, and Non-Bacterial Chronic Prostatitis. In May 2005, BioXell announced a partnership with Merck to advance its TREM receptor biology programme into the clinic. In addition, the Company has recently in-licensed MNAC13, a novel anti-TrkA monoclonal antibody for the treatment of pain, from lay Line Genomics. BioXell is also collaborating with ProStrakan to develop Vitamin D3 drug candidates to treat osteoporosis and secondary hyperparathyroidism. To date, BioXell has raised a total of over € 80 million through world-class specialised healthcare investors including MPM Capital, Index Ventures, BB BIOTECH, AlpInvest Partners, Life Sciences Partners and TVM Capital, as well as government funding. BioXell currently employs 63 people and has sites in Milan , Italy and Nutley , NJ , USA

About TVM Capital
TVM Capital, founded in 1983, is one of the first venture capital firms formed in Germany , and an early entrant into the US market in 1986. Since its inception TVM Capital has raised over €1.3 billion in six fund generations and has established itself as a leading technology investment group in Europe and the United States . TVM Capital funds have made investments in more than 230 information technology and life science companies where innovation, effective management and sound financial backing have an enormous impact on company growth. The TVM Capital in-depth knowledge of the European and US environments helps companies create businesses that enjoy access to science, management talent, distribution channels and capital on both sides of the Atlantic . More than 40 companies went public on European or US stock exchanges. Today, TVM is actively invested in over 70 companies.

For more information please visit www.tvm-capital.com

About NEXT
Launched at the end of 2004, NEXT is the first closed-end, public-private, venture capital fund in Italy . NEXT is subscribed by institutional investors and created by Regione Lombardia with the aim of developing on the territory of the region a venture capital market focussed on innovation and development of new technologies. NEXT is managed by Finlombarda Gestioni SGR S.p.A., participated by Finlombarda S.p.A. (the financial services firm of Regione Lombardia), the Milan Chamber of Commerce, and Consorzio Politecnico Innovazione (related to Politecnico University of Milan). Value generation as well as support of- technological innovation in the Lombardy region are the primary objectives of the fund activities.

For more information please visit www.finlombarda.it



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