Prestwick Pharmaceuticals Secures $15 Million in Venture Capital Financing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 19, 2003 – Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has raised $15 million in a first round of venture capital financing. The funds will be used to develop and sell drugs for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The investment was co-led by BioAsia Investments and Sofinnova Ventures, with investments from Atlas Venture and BA Venture Partners.

Prestwick has several product candidates in clinical development. Its lead product is Xenazine, a molecule that has been approved to treat Huntington’s chorea in Europe, Canada, and Australia, but has not yet been approved in the U.S. Xenazine’s effectiveness in chorea has been shown in multiple published clinical studies, and there is currently no approved therapeutic product in the U.S. for this indication. Xenazine is undergoing pivotal Phase III clinical testing in the U.S., and the company hopes to file an NDA in the near future. Kathleen Clarence-Smith, M.D., Ph.D., the company’s founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer, believes that Xenazine has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life of patients with Huntington’s disease. The abnormal movements associated with chorea can be devastating for the afflicted patients, and often prevent them from conducting activities of daily living.

The company also has several other products in Phase IIb development for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Clarence-Smith stated, “This financing validates our approach to identifying and developing drugs that uniquely meet patient needs. Our products are exciting to the patient community, as well as to the physicians, who have been waiting for new solutions to old problems. We look forward to working with investors to help provide therapeutics for patients who are waiting for better treatments for their diseases.”

The company’s Board of Directors will be comprised of Dr. Clarence-Smith; Edgar Engleman, M.D., General Partner of BioAsia Investments and Chairman of the Board; Robert J. Flanagan, Executive Vice President of Clark Enterprises; Jim Healy, M.D., Ph.D., General Partner of Sofinnova Ventures; and Joël Besse, Senior Principal of Atlas Venture.

"Prestwick’s late-stage product portfolio is one of the best we have seen in a first-round venture financing,” said Dr. Engleman. “Dr. Clarence-Smith clearly has demonstrated the ability to identify and bring in promising therapeutic opportunities in the area.”

“It is truly remarkable for a company at this stage to have a late-stage development pipeline that will yield multiple approved drugs within a reasonably short period of time,” added Dr. Healy. “We’re pleased to add Prestwick to our portfolio of therapeutics development companies.”

About Prestwick
Prestwick Pharmaceuticals was established as a spin-out of Prestwick Scientific Capital in December 2002. The company has multiple product candidates in clinical development in CNS and plans to commercialize its lead product, Xenazine, in the U.S. as soon as FDA approval is obtained. For more information, visit www.prestwickpharma.com.

About the Investors
Information on the investors can be found at: www.bioasia.com, www.sofinnova.com, www.atlasventure.com, and www.baventurepartners.com.