Allozyne Raises $30 Million

Allozyne Inc., a Seattle-based biotech company focused on protein therapeutics, has raised $30 million in Series B funding. It will be used to advance the company's lead product candidate, which it says is an improved version of Interferon beta for the treatment for Multiple Sclerosis. MPM Capital led the round, and was joined by return backers OVP Venture Partners, Amgen Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners and Alexandria Real Estate Equities.

The company was formed in 2005 under the auspices of a VC-backed incubator called Accelerator Corp., and raised under $4 million in Series A funding at a post-money valuation of approximately $8.6 million.

PRESS RELEASE
Allozyne, Inc., a Seattle-based biotechnology company focused on the development and manufacture of improved protein therapeutics, announced today that it has closed a $30 million Series B financing. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance Allozyne's lead product candidate, an improved version of Interferon beta for the treatment for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), into clinical development and through the completion of phase I clinical trials. This funding will also accelerate the preclinical development of a second program as well as further exploit the company's proprietary technology platform. The company also announced today that it has appointed Ms. Meenu Chhabra as President and Chief Executive Officer.

MPM Capital led the financing with participation from existing investors OVP Venture Partners, Amgen Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. With the closing of this financing Allozyne will prepare to exit from Accelerator Corporation, a venture capital-backed investment vehicle supporting the formation and development of next-generation biotechnology companies. Accelerator's syndicate of venture capital investors made a Series A investment in Allozyne in November of 2005.

Allozyne, Inc., was founded to commercialize proprietary technologies developed in the laboratories of Dr. David Tirrell and Dr. William Goddard III at the California Institute of Technology. These technologies will enable the company to improve the efficacy of protein-based therapeutics. This is achieved by applying a rapid and consistent approach to specifically modifying recombinant proteins, and has broad utility in developing improved therapeutic proteins and monoclonal antibodies. Seattle serial scientific entrepreneur Kenneth Grabstein, Ph.D., has successfully led the company through its initial development stage and will continue to serve as Chief Scientific Officer of the company.

Meenu Chhabra recently joined Allozyne as President and Chief Executive Officer, having previously served as Vice President, Business Development and Licensing, for Novartis Consumer Health (Geneva, Switzerland). Immediately prior to joining Novartis, Ms. Chhabra served as the Chief Business Officer at BioXell S.p.A. (Milan, Italy). Ms. Chhabra has also held management positions at NeurAxon, Inc., and Fresenius Kabi AG, as well as sales and marketing roles at Parke Davis/Warner Lambert, Inc., and Bristol Myers Squibb, Inc. Ms. Chhabra received her Bachelor of Science degree from University of Toronto in Pharmacology and her Master's in Business Administration from York University with a focus in Strategy and Finance. “Allozyne is at a critical inflection point in its lifecycle, and I am honored to join the company,“ stated Ms. Chhabra. “We intend to build a company that will offer the market a technology platform that is on the vanguard of next-generation protein therapeutics. It is an exciting time to be at Allozyne as we are poised for success.“

Dr. Michael Steinmetz, Executive Chairman of Allozyne and a General Partner at MPM Capital for BioVentures I, II, and III, as well as a Managing Director at Clarus Ventures, stated: “We intend to build Allozyne into a leading biotechnology company, which will use its substitution mutagenesis and site-specific modification technologies to develop protein therapeutics with improved safety and efficacy profiles.“

Allozyne will be the third company to graduate from Accelerator and raise a significant Series B round of financing. Previous Accelerator graduate VLST Corporation raised $55M in May of 2006, and Spaltudaq Corporation raised $29M in March of 2007. Carl Weissman, President and CEO of Accelerator and Venture Partner with OVP, added, “Allozyne is a fantastic story, a broad platform technology that is rapidly generating high-value, low-risk, product opportunities. The steady guidance of Michael Steinmetz as Chairman combined with the talents and energy of Meenu Chhabra as CEO will balance perfectly with the Allozyne team.“

About Allozyne

Allozyne, Inc., is a privately held biotechnology company focused on the development and manufacture of protein therapeutics. These technologies will enable the company to improve the efficacy of protein-based therapeutics. This is achieved by applying a rapid and consistent approach to specifically modifying recombinant proteins, and has broad utility in developing improved therapeutic proteins including monoclonal antibodies. For more information, please visit www.allozyne.com.

About MPM Capital

MPM Capital L.P. is a global investment management firm focused solely on life sciences investing. One of the largest investment management firms dedicated to the life sciences sector, MPM Capital has offices in Boston, San Francisco and New York City. MPM's portfolio ranges from start-ups to large capitalization public companies, with a primary focus on biopharmaceutical and medical device companies nearing commercialization of products or those companies that already offer product-driven opportunities. The firm manages over $2.5 billion in assets through the MPM BioVentures Family of venture capital funds and the MPM BioEquities public market fund. More information on MPM can be found at www.MPMCapital.com.

About Accelerator Corporation

Accelerator Corporation, founded in 2003, is a privately held biotechnology investment and development company located in Seattle, Washington, USA. The company is building the next generation of life-enhancing biotechnology companies by providing the resources critical to accelerating the development of nascent leading-edge biotechnologies. These key resources, provided by global life science leaders — Amgen Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, MPM Capital, OVP Venture Partners, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., WRF Capital, and the Institute for Systems Biology — include committed capital from top-tier venture capital firms, state-of-the-art facilities, world-class scientific and technical expertise and support, and experienced biotechnology start-up business management and support. For more information, please go to: www.acceleratorcorp.com.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE), Landlord and Developer of Choice to the Life Science Industry