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For Immediate Release, February 26, 2002 Affinium™ Pharmaceuticals forms Subsidiary, Ylektra, Inc., for Selective Transformation Chemistry for Lead Optimization TORONTO, ONTARIO (February 26, 2002) – Affinium Pharmaceuticals, a leader in structure guided drug discovery, today announced that it has formed Ylektra, Inc., a chemistry subsidiary focused on developing novel chemistries for pharmaceutical and industrial applications. Dr. Andrei Yudin, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Toronto, founded Ylektra with Affinium. Dr. Yudin previously trained under Nobel Laureates Dr. George Olah, and Dr. Barry Sharpless. The Company is developing proprietary technology and processes for the production of novel chemical compounds through selective transformations to develop new medicines, improve production of existing medicines and develop new catalysts. Ylektra will produce milligram quantities of novel compounds built around core structures proposed by Affinium for lead optimization. Genesys Capital Partners of Toronto, Canada, made an investment in Ylektra. “We are very excited to be working with one of the industry’s leading young chemists, Dr. Andrei Yudin. Ylektra’s proprietary selective transformation processes enable the production of compounds that were not previously accessible by other methods of chemistry. Ylektra-made chemicals will impact the next generation of smart pharmaceuticals and industrial materials,” said Dr. John D. Mendlein, Chairman and CEO of Affinium Pharmaceuticals. “Ylektra’s breakthrough technologies for efficiently and cleanly making specific molecules are a perfect match for Affinium’s structure guided drug discovery process to accelerate the design of compounds for the next generation of medicines.” Affinium Pharmaceuticals is a structure guided drug discovery company. The Company’s proprietary, integrated drug discovery process is designed for rapid advancement of small molecule programs from gene to clinic. Affinium is actively engaged on its own internal small molecule programs. The Company’s processes enable high throughput target production, determination of target function/structure, and determination of target structure with bound hits and leads to accelerate chemistry for new medicines. The Company also integrates the premier discovery capabilities of Aurora Biosciences to advance Affinium’s internal drug discovery efforts. Affinium’s processes feature mass spectrometry, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography technologies from Bruker Daltonics (Nasdaq: BDAL), Bruker BioSpin and Bruker AXS (Nasdaq: BAXS), respectively. The Company’s investors include the Lombard Odier Immunology Fund, Genesys Capital Partners Inc., and HBM BioVentures (Henri B. Meier, Chairman), as well as industrial partners Aurora Biosciences and the Bruker Companies. The Company’s Founders, Drs. Aled Edwards, Cheryl Arrowsmith and Jack Greenblatt, are world experts in determination of target function and structure and remain actively involved in the Company. The Company has raised US $33 million since its inception in 2000. Affinium and Affinium Pharmaceuticals are trademark names of the Company. For more information, please contact: Affinium™ Pharmaceuticals Contact:
Dr. Joanne E. Harack |