Financing to fuel Aegera’s dedication to extending and enhancing the lives of cancer patients

Toronto, February 24, 2004. VenGrowth Capital Partners Inc. (“VenGrowth”), a leading private equity firm with over $1 billion in assets under management, today announced an CDN$8 million investment in private Canadian biotechnology company Aegera Oncology Inc. (“Aegera”). The VenGrowth Advanced Life Sciences Fund led eight other venture investors, including BDC and Desjardins, in a CDN$20 million financing round. Aegera is a private oncology company based in Ottawa with leading drug candidates for cancer treatment soon to be tested in clinics around the globe. The investment will take Aegera deep into the drug development stage and enable the company to build significant value.

“We are pleased that VenGrowth chose to lead a financing round that will take us to significant product milestones,” said Michael Atkin, President and CEO, Aegera. “VenGrowth has the expertise and experience to understand the importance of strong financing as we accelerate our drug development.”

Aegera, a subsidiary of Montreal-based Aegera Therapeutics Inc., was formed in 2000 with the merger of two companies based on cutting edge discoveries by scientists at university-based labs at McGill and the University of Ottawa. The company is managed by internationally qualified executives who combine extensive pharmaceutical, biotechnology and finance industry experience with practical business and product development expertise. Since 2001, Aegera has been recognized annually as one of Canada’s top Emerging Stage Life Sciences Investment Prospects by The Ottawa Life Sciences Council*. Aegera Therapeutics won a prestigious Genesis Award in 2003 – recognizing the company’s role in the growth of Quebec’s biotechnology, health technology and life sciences industry.

Aegera’s Intellectual Property “second to none”

Aegera is dedicated to developing new therapeutics to extend and enhance the lives of cancer patients – a multi-billion dollar global market. Aegera is focused on the considerable therapeutic potential of controlling “apoptosis” – or programmed cell death. Apoptosis is responsible for the essential destruction of up to 70 billion cells in the human body every day – a process essential for life. The ability to manipulate apoptosis, and induce the death of tumour cells or rescue healthy cells, is improving rapidly and is widely regarded as a key development in the treatment of cancer. Aegera has exclusive patent rights on crucial inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) – proteins known to control apoptosis. Aegera’s substantial patent suite includes 19 issued US patents with an additional 45 patent applications filed internationally.

“Aegera’s intellectual property is second to none,” said Dr. Luc Marengère, VenGrowth General Partner and Lead Manager of the VenGrowth Advanced Life Sciences Fund. “The company is very well positioned for developing therapies based on apoptosis control – acknowledged as a critical area of the treatment of all types of cancer.”

Aegera’s lead drug candidate is based on its IAP discoveries and is set to enter the clinic for human testing early this year in the United Kingdom and Canada. Combination studies with drugs targeted specifically at breast and ovarian cancer will follow later in 2004 and in 2005.

Diverse product pipeline offers investors greater return potential

Aegera’s second oncology candidate is a small molecule that alleviates neuropathic pain – a disabling and untreated side effect of chemotherapy. Both of Aegera’s lead programs have the potential to make significant contributions in multiple fields, including the enhancement of treatments for diabetes, multiple sclerosis and motor neuropathies.

“We were attracted to Aegera by the fact that its product pipeline has the potential to make waves in many different therapeutic fields,” said Dr. Luc Marengère. “This investment not only offers diversification within the multi-billion dollar sphere of cancer treatment, but also lateral diversification across different unmet medical needs that are escalating with the aging population. It is a concrete example of the type of later-stage investment, with near-term exit potential, that we are targeting on behalf of shareholders.”

*Source: Ottawa Life Sciences Council, BioNorth Awards

About VenGrowth Capital Partners Inc.

With over $1 billion in assets under management, VenGrowth is Canada’s largest private equity and venture capital firm managing both retail and institutional assets. Since 1982, VenGrowth’s accomplished team of seasoned private equity managers has invested over $1 billion in 169 companies, building a strong track record of successful portfolio transactions. These investments have been made on behalf of over 160,000 individual investors as well as leading pension funds, insurance companies and family foundations. Portfolio companies benefit from VenGrowth’s substantial experience, resources, and hands-on investment style. VenGrowth is 100% independently owned by employees that are dedicated to generating superior returns for shareholders in its funds. VenGrowth’s offices are located in Toronto (Corporate Headquarters) and Ottawa. VenGrowth Capital Partners Inc. is an affiliate of the managers of the VenGrowth Funds. For more information, please visit www.vengrowth.com.

About VenGrowth Advanced Life Sciences Fund

The VenGrowth Advanced Life Sciences Fund Inc. focuses on advanced investment opportunities within Canada’s high growth life sciences sector. Launched in 2002, the Fund has invested over $80 million in a diversified portfolio of companies - elevating VenGrowth to a leadership position among investors in the burgeoning life sciences area. Sectors targeted by the Fund include biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices and imaging products and other special life sciences opportunities. This diversified approach is designed to offer investors the combined benefits of high return potential and lower risk. The Fund is managed by a team of specialized VenGrowth professionals led by Dr. Luc Marengère, a highly regarded scientist and venture manager. The Fund also leverages the expertise of an external advisory board including leading members of the North American medical and life sciences communities. In addition to expert management, the Fund offers investors long-term performance potential, 100% RRSP-eligibility and, through its labour-sponsored investment fund structure, eligibility for substantial tax credits. The Fund had net assets of $131 million as of December 31, 2003.

About Aegera

Aegera is a private North American biotechnology company focused on exploiting apoptosis control to extend and enhance the lives of cancer patients: killing cancer cells by inducing apoptosis and rescuing neurons from apoptotic cell death. Aegera’s lead oncology program is a XIAP antisense therapeutic, AEG35156/GEM®640, which is expected to enter the clinic in Q1 2004. A second oncology program, the AEG3482 Series, is being developed to alleviate the disabling chemotherapy side effect of peripheral neuropathy, and is scheduled to enter clinical trials in 2005. For more information, please visit www.aegera.com

For further information:

Ed Dermit,
Vice President, Marketing
VenGrowth Capital Partners Inc.,
(416) 967-2392
ed@vengrowth.com