July 26, 2004 10:59 AM US Eastern Timezone

New Enterprise Associates Invests $1.7 Million in Ruxton Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; NEA Sees Bright Future for Baltimore-Based Pharma Company

BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 26, 2004--New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has invested $1.7 million in Baltimore, Maryland-based Ruxton Pharmaceuticals, Inc., as part of a $5.2 million Series A financing. Ruxton Pharmaceuticals is reformulating FDA approved drugs for new indications, specifically Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's" disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Proceeds from this Series A financing will be used to further pre-clinical development.

"Ruxton Pharmaceuticals is committed to serving a seriously unmet market of debilitating and deadly diseases, and NEA is proud to be a part of building this great company," said Jim Barrett, NEA general partner and Ruxton Pharmaceuticals board member. "Ruxton's advanced technology provides a strong foundation as the Company focuses on developing new FDA-approved drugs. FDA-approved drugs currently used in ALS or Alzheimer's work by affecting glutamate neurotransmission. Ruxton is pursuing a novel way of impacting that pathway."

Ruxton Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing modulators of glutamate excitotoxicity in the central nervous system. Excess glutamate exposure in the CNS has been implicated in a variety of neurodegenerative conditions. The company is pursuing a strategy of initially reformulating previously approved New Chemical Entities (NCEs) for the treatment of severe neurodegenerative diseases while also finding novel compounds.

"It is a pleasure to work with such excellent technology from The Johns Hopkins University and to start a new Baltimore-based pharmaceutical company with funding support from some of the country's most respected venture capitalists," said David S. Block, M.D., M.B.A., President and C.E.O. of Ruxton Pharmaceuticals. "The company will be working hard over the next couple of years to move one or more compounds into clinical trials."

About Ruxton Pharmaceuticals

Ruxton Pharmaceuticals is an emerging pharmaceutical company that has been formed to discover, develop and market drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Ruxton is focused on important indications with serious unmet medical needs, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, known as ALS or "Lou Gehrig's" disease. The Company's technology comes from the laboratories of The Johns Hopkins University Professor Jeffrey Rothstein, M.D., Ph.D., who is known internationally for his work in synaptic biology, glutamate transporters, and pre-clinical and clinical studies of drugs to help patients with ALS. Ruxton Pharmaceuticals has licensed compounds from The Johns Hopkins University that decrease synaptic glutamate levels in a completely novel way by increasing the density of functioning glutamate transporters. Research will continue through university-based sponsored research agreements. For more information, email ruxtonrx@comcast.net.