Chicago, IL, April 9, 2006 -The decision by Yale-New Haven Hospital last month to proceed with development of a $430 million cancer center caps a year of lively development in Connecticut bioscience since last June, when Governor M. Jodi Rell signed into law landmark stem cell legislation. The state’s biotech and pharma companies, its major research universities, and its network of bioscience support organizations all reported significant progress.

Following up quickly on the state’s stem cell legislation, the University of Connecticut announced that Dr. Ren-He Xu, a developmental biologist and expert in growing human embryonic stem cells lines, had been named director of UConn’s new human embryonic stem cell core laboratory. Xu will also become a faculty member of the Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Health Center, with a joint appointment at the Center for Regenerative Biology in Storrs.

“Dr. Xu’s hands-on expertise with hES (human embryonic stem) cells catapults us into a very strong position in establishing a world-class cell culture facility in the state of Connecticut,” said Dr. Marc Lalande, chair of the Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology at UConn.

For the new cancer center, Yale has already recruited a dozen of the country’s top clinicians and researchers and has earmarked about $50 million to draw faculty from other first-tier institutions. The promise of sparkling new facilities, along with the university’s already strong reputation in immunology, biology, virology and the physical sciences, has generated interest among experts across the United States, academic administrators said.

“Connecticut has a vigorous and growing bioscience industry,” said Paul Pescatello, president and CEO of CURE (Connecticut United for Research Excellence, Inc.), the educational and business support network organization for bioscience in Connecticut, as he arrived in Chicago to attend the international BIO 2006 convention there. “ World-class research at Yale University and The University of Connecticut supplies a steady stream of know-how and technology to the bioscience industry. Connecticut consistently ranks within the top five states in patents issued, and within the top ten nationwide for monetary value of National Institutes of Health grants received. ”

At year end 2004, bioscience organizations directly employed more than 18,000 people in Connecticut, a 15% increase over five years. In 2004 Connecticut boasted nearly 5.6 million square feet of laboratory space. That year bioscience organizations spent more than $4.3 billion on operations within the state, a 65% increase over five years.

An informal survey of some of the highlights in Connecticut since last year’s BIO 2005 convention reveals that Connecticut, “the land of steady habits,” is also the land of steady progress in the bioscience industry.

Protein Sciences of Meriden announced a new round of financing on the heels of a highly successful Phase II/III field trial of FluBlØk™, their patented recombinant influenza vaccine. “We believe the new funding will allow us to secure market approval in less than two years,” said CEO Dan Adams.

HistoRx of New Haven and Eli Lilly and Company entered into a collaboration to apply the HistoRx AQUA™ platform for quantitative pathology analysis. The collaboration calls for the use of the platform to generate in situ proteomic information to elucidate different aspects of Lilly's drug discovery and development pathway.

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals of New Haven initiated Phase I trials of its first candidate for treating resistant infections. The candidate is derived from the company's Rx-01 program, which utilizes X-ray crystallography and computational chemistry to facilitate drug design. Separately, Rib-X announced it had secured four U.S. patents. The company was founded to use high resolution crystal structures of the 50S ribosomal subunit and novel, proprietary structure-based drug design approaches to efficiently design new classes of antibiotics that are active against drug-resistant bacteria.

Susan Froshauer, president & CEO of Rib-X, won the entrepreneurial innovation and leadership award presented by the Connecticut Technology Council. Additional awards went to Pfizer employees: Karen Houseknecht, associate research fellow, and Nancy Hutson, senior vice president of global R&D and director of Pfizer's Groton/New London labs.

NanoViricides of West Haven said results “exceeded our expectations” following the test of a nanoviricide compound used in its anti-influenza drug, FluCide-I™. “We are on target to meet the priority goal set by management to develop the world's leading therapeutics for Influenza A and Bird Flu,” said Dr. Anil Diwan, the company's president.

CuraGen of Branford named Dr. Frank M. Armstrong president and CEO. Dr. Armstrong comes to the post with more than twenty years experience at major pharmaceutical companies.

The Genome Sequencer 20 system of 454 Life Sciences , the Branford subsidiary of CuraGen , was recognized by The Wall Street Journal 2005 technology awards with both the biotechnology and the overall gold medals. Furthermore, 454 signed a deal with Roche Applied Science to distribute the machines worldwide.

RainDance Technologies , a nanotechnology company based in Guilford, pressed forward with its program to discover, develop, and commercialize the precise manipulation of minute amounts of fluids in microfluidics devices for a variety of industrial and research applications. After CuraGen and 454 life Sciences, it's the third New Haven-area bioscience company started by its chairman, Jonathan Rothberg.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticalsof Ridgefield gave $1.25 million to the School of Pharmacy at the university of Connecticut to establish an endowed chair in mechanistic drug toxicology, the first such chair in the nation.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Yale University School of Medicine finalized a research alliance agreement to support translational cardiovascular and immunology research. A joint committee will approve projects between Yale and BIPI scientists funded under an approximately $1 million annual commitment.

The FDA approved Bayer’s Nexavar® for the treatment of patients with advanced kidney cancer. It was the first FDA-approved treatment for this type of cancer in more than a decade. A good part of the R&D on the breakthrough was conducted at Connecticut facilities.

Pfizer’s Exubera® Inhalantion Powder was approved by the FDA for the treatment of adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. “A major, first-of-its-kind medical breakthrough,” Hank McKinnell, chairman and CEO of Pfizer, called it. Again, a good part of the R&D on the breakthrough was conducted at Connecticut facilities.

Pfizer marked the grand opening in New Haven of a $35 million state-of-the-art clinical research unit (CRU) to confirm the safety and action of potential new medicines.

CURE is working with the Connecticut Stem Cell Coalition , the Connecticut Department of Public Health , and Connecticut stem cell scientists to host StemConn 07 , an international stem cell conference. The date is March 27-28 of 2007, in the same time frame as BIO 07 in Boston. Confirmed speakers include such stem cell notables as Ian Wilmut of the University of Edinburgh, Douglas Melton of Harvard, and Rudolf Jaenisch of MIT.

The Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) and CuraGen teamed with UConn and CURE to develop a cutting-edge graduate certificate program in Good Manufacturing Practices for the bioscience industry. The program aims to increase students’ and current workers’ knowledge and skills in areas needed in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

Alexion of Cheshire reported positive results from its pivotal Phase III international trial using eculizumab in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (“PNH”) patients. “The drug is safe and effective,” said Alexion CEO Leonard Bell. Separately, Alexion celebrated 10 years on the Nasdaq exchange. Dr. Bell rang the closing bell during a February visit.

CGI Pharmaceuticals of Branford received $22.3 million in a third round of private equity financing. The infusion of cash allows Cellular Genomics to advance its drug programs into clinical trials. The company focuses on kinases, which are protein molecules that operate within cell pathways. The goal is to develop drugs to treat cancer, autoimmune disorders and inflammatory diseases.

Neurogen of Branford completed the first-in-human, single ascending dose study of the Company's leading drug candidate for insomnia, NG2-73, which selectively modulates receptors of the gamma- aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmitter system. Separately, Neurogenannounced that its partner Merck had commenced Phase I clinical trials of NGD-8243, a leading drug candidate for treating pain, and one of several drug candidates being developed as the result of the companies' exclusive worldwide alliance to develop oral therapeutics targeting the VR1 receptor.

Vion Pharmaceuticals of New Haven announced that it had received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for its anticancer agent Cloretazine® for induction treatment of patients over 60 years of age with poor-risk acute myelogenous leukemia (“AML”). This is the second indication for which Cloretazine® has received a Fast Track designation.

Genomas of Hartford launched its HILOmet PHYSIOTYPE™ System for personalized drug safety and announced an agreement with Clinical Laboratory Partners (CLP), Newington, CT for its distribution.

In a victory for Purdue Pharma of Stamford, the makers of OxyContin, a federal appeals court overturned a decision that found patents protecting the powerful painkiller were invalid. Separately, Purdue Pharma and Shionogi entered into a multi-year agreement to develop and co-market several novel drug compounds for the treatment of pain.

Venture investing in Connecticut in 2005 increased 8% over 2004, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers/Thomson Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree Survey. The largest investment in Connecticut went to Aegerion Pharmaceuticals; Achillion Pharmaceuticals of New Haven received $17.0 million.

Connecticut Innovations of Rocky Hill completed its fourth investment in Achillion. Connecticut Innovations was the first institutional investor in Achillion back in 2000. Achillion’s most advanced program, Elvucitabine, is in Phase II clinical development for the treatment of infections caused by HIV.

Clinical Data acquired Genaissance Pharmaceuticals in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $56 million. Separately, Genaissance entered into a pharmacogenomic research collaboration with Otsuka Pharmaceutical to its HAP ™ Technology with the goal of identifying genetic markers related to drug response.

Four bioscience organizations with Connecticut operations were named as among the 100 best companies for working mothers by Working Mother magazine. They are Yale-New Haven Hospital, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer.

CURE is a statewide coalition of over 100 educational and research institutions, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and other supporting businesses. It is dedicated to promoting the growth and increasing public understanding of biomedical research and science in Connecticut.

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