New Leaf Venture Partners Announces $8 Million Investment in Cerexa's $50 Million Financing; Investment is First from NLV Partners' Recently Announced Fund Dedicated to Healthcare Technologies

NEW YORK & MENLO PARK, Calif. Aug. 23, 2005 -- New Leaf Venture Partners (NLV Partners) announced today that it has co-led a $50 million round of initial financing in Cerexa, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing, acquiring and commercializing hospital-based anti-infective therapies for the treatment of patients with life-threatening infections. NLV Partners invested $8 million in the financing, which was co-led by Frazier Healthcare Ventures and included significant participation from Cerexa's existing stockholders. In connection with the financing, Ron Hunt, a managing director at NLV Partners, and Patrick Heron, a general partner at Frazier, will be joining Cerexa's board of directors.

With the financing, Cerexa announced the formal launch of operations following its recent successful spin out from Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Cerexa expects to initiate Phase 2 clinical trials with PPI-0903, a next-generation, broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) coverage, in the second half of 2005.

"This is a promising time to be investing in the antibiotics market, which is experiencing a renewed interest as evidenced by some of the recent transactions we've seen in the space," commented Ron Hunt. "Not only does Cerexa have a potential blockbuster asset with PPI-0903, but this team has the experience and skills in place to build a successful company with a broad portfolio of novel anti-infective products."

Mr. Hunt continued, "We are excited to announce this first investment from our new fund, which is focused on clinical-stage biopharmaceutical products, early-stage medical devices, and molecular diagnostics. In the biopharma sector, we are seeking out companies with clinical-stage assets in interesting therapeutic categories, with compelling preclinical and early human clinical data packages. In addition, we are looking for management teams with proven track records of success in moving molecules through clinical milestones with well designed and tightly managed clinical programs. Cerexa is an ideal fit for this strategy and a great first investment for us in this area."

About NLV Partners

NLV Partners is a life science-dedicated venture capital firm with offices in Menlo Park and New York. Founded by the former members of Sprout Group's Healthcare Technology venture team, NLV Partners invests primarily in firms focused on clinical-stage biopharmaceutical products, early-stage medical devices, and molecular diagnostics. In addition, the NLV Partners team will continue to manage the existing $800 million healthcare technology portfolio of Sprout Group.


Contact
Burns McClellan, New York
on Behalf of NLV Partners
Justin Jackson
212-213-0006 ext. 327
jjackson@burnsmc.com