OctreoPharm Sciences GmbH Closes Financing Round for Cancer Diagnostic

Berlin (ots) - OctreoPharm Sciences GmbH, a specialist for
contrast media in Nuclear Medicine, was able to successfully close a
financing round for the clinical development of its cancer diagnostic
SOMscan®. With the nearly EUR 5 million which were brought up by
three venture capitalists, clinical trials up to phase II shall be
implemented in the next two years. If they are successful, the
European approval of the radiopharmaceutical can be reached possibly
already in 2014, after a further round of financing, to be followed
by the U.S. approval. As a contrast agent for the Positron Emission
Tomography (PET), SOMscan® is suitable for the detection and
treatment control of neuroendocrine tumours.

"The product has a number of distinguishing features", explained
Dr. Hakim Bouterfa, founder and Managing Director of OctreoPharm
Sciences and responsible for the area of clinical development.
"SOMscan ® displays not only neuroendocrine tumours particularly
safely and sensitively, but can be also perfectly combined with a
promising new cancer medicine by a major European pharmaceutical
company which is, at this time, already passing successfully through
phase III tests." "As this new preparation has a molecular structure
which is closely related to SOMscan ®, we are very optimistic with
regard to the compatibility and applicability of our developing
candidate".

Another special feature of SOMscan® is that it uses Gallium-68 as
a signaller, which is a short-lived radioisotope that has been
available only since recently in pharmaceutically pure quality and
thus in an approvable shape. Approval of SOMscan® together with the
Gallium-68 signaller would be a world premiere, which would create a
new generation of nuclear medical diagnostics. Other than
conventional PET contrast agents, Gallium-68 can be delivered in
metal containers of the size of a food tin, and it does not rely on
large linear accelerators, the so-called cyclotrons. This
significantly simplifies the handling. Therefore, diagnostics can be
performed with Gallium-68 also locally, away from the classical
radio pharmaceutical centres.

"Our new site on the bio-medical campus in Berlin-Buch is ideal,"
said Udo Blaseg, founder and Managing Director of the OctreoPharm
Sciences GmbH. "Berlin is an European Centre for the use of
radioactive materials in medicine, and it convinces with good
technical infrastructure, excellent hospitals and the proximity to
specialised service providers. This location also facilitates
cooperation with a major manufacturer of gallium generators, the
company Berlin Eckert & Ziegler AG. Further, Berlin is also home to
the VC Fonds Technologie Berlin AG which is managed by the IBB
Beteiligungsgesellschaft, and of the company Eckert Wagniskapital und
Frühphasenfinanzierung GmbH, both of whom are early-stage financers
of this project. The third investor participating in the project is
the KfW-Mittelstandsbank in Bonn".

About OctreoPharm Sciences GmbH:

The OctreoPharm Sciences GmbH is a biopharmaceutical company in
the field of radioactively labelled pharmaceuticals. The company
focuses in particular on the development of new radio pharmaceuticals
for neuroendocrine tumours.

About Eckert Wagniskapital und Frühphasenfinanzierung GmbH

Eckert Wagniskapital und Frühphasenfinanzierung GmbH is a venture
and early-phase financer who has specialised for over 20 years in
technology-oriented manufacturing companies in the field of life
sciences (biotechnology, medical technology, pharmacy), with life
science being broadly interpreted, including adjacent topics and
industries such as analytics, material science or clinical
developments. Regional focus is Berlin and its hinterland, and
investments are made, with regard to the life cycle, mainly into
start-ups or early phases. Among the most successful EWK foundations
are Eckert & Ziegler AG ( www.ezag.de ) and Glycotope (
www.glycotope.com ). In total, since 1990, the EWK portfolio has
supported nearly 20 companies and start-ups.

Contact:
OctreoPharm Sciences GmbH
Udo Blaseg
Robert-Rössle-Straße 10
13125 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 9489 3360
Email: udo.blaseg@octreopharm.com