Pathway Therapeutics Completes $3 Million Financing for Cancer Programs, and appoints Dr Julie Cherrington as Chief Executive Officer

AUCKLAND: 15 October 2009: Pathway Therapeutics Limited, a New Zealand drug development company announced that it has met an important drug development milestone triggering a AUD$3 million (US$2.4 million) third tranche of its AUD$10 million (US$9.6 million) Series A private equity placement. The financing was led by GBS Venture Partners, Australia and CM Capital Investments, Australia, with co-investors the Trans-Tasman Commercialization Fund (TTCF) and Auckland UniServices Limited. The funding will be used to advance lead inhibitors of PI3 kinase toward the clinic. PI3 kinase is an enzyme involved in controlling cell growth and migration, and is of particular interest as a potential cancer therapeutic target.

Concomitant with obtaining this important drug development milestone, the company has appointed Julie M. Cherrington Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer Previously, Dr Cherrington was president at Phenomix Corporation with strategic and operational responsibilities for drug research and development at the discovery, pre-clinical and clinical stages, and played a leadership role in the financing, business development and corporate development functions in the company. Prior to joining Phenomix in 2003, she was vice president of preclinical and clinical research at SUGEN, a Pfizer company. SUGEN was a pioneer biotech company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer.

“We are absolutely delighted with the appointment of Dr Cherrington who has a terrific breadth and depth of experience that will be valuable as we advance our programs,” said Dr Mark Harvey, Pathway’s chairman of the board. “Dr Cherrington is a great addition to our team which includes co-founders Professors Bill Denny, Ph.D. and ῐeter Shepherd Ph.D. who along with their teams have worked wonderfully since the company™s inception, Dr Harvey added.

“I am very excited to be joining the Pathway team, which has created significant value in the company in a very short time,” Dr Cherrington said. “I am deeply committed to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and eager to provide the leadership to maximize the potential of Pathway’s uniquῥ approach.

GBS Ventures is Australia’s largest specialist life science venture capital investment group. GBS manages specialist funds from seed through to expansion stage in the life sciences sector, and has more than AUD$300 million under management. The GBS team has been investing in Australasia since 1996 and played founding roles in companies with a combined maῲket capitalization of more than AUD$1 billion. For more information please visit wwwgbsventures.com.au

CM Capital Investments is one of Australia’s leading venture capital companies focused in investing in early-stage life sciences and telecommunications/IT companies. CM Capital was founded in 2007 and currently has AUD$270 million under management. For more information, please visit www.cmcapital.com

TTCF is an AUD$30 million investment fund designed to aid the early-stage commercialization of intellectual property developed at the University of Auckland and four Australian universities.
Auckland UniServices Limited commercializes intellectual property and creates new businesses based on the expertise of the University of Auckland. UniServices’ ability to combine academic creativity with commercial rigour has resulted in more than 20 spinout organizations worth more than NZ$500 million. www.uniservices.co.nz

About Pathway Therapeutics Limited
Pathway Therapeutics Limited is a New Zealand drug development company, which focuses on cell signaling to develop novel therapeutics against human disease. Its portfolio includes anticancer drugs targeting PI3 kinase, an enzyme identified as active in cancer tumor development. The company is incorporated in New Zealand, with operations in Auckland, New Zealand, and a US subsidiary, Pathway Therapeutics, Inc.

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