NovaMed Secures Investment from Atlas Venture Company Poised for Strong Growth in China
　

NovaMed Pharmaceuticals Inc, a China-based pharmaceutical start-up company announced today that as part of its early stage funding, it has secured $5m investment from leading international venture capital firm, Atlas Venture.

Founded in August 2005, NovaMed provides outsourced commercialization services for leading global and local pharmaceutical companies. The company is building a portfolio of products in oncology and other important therapeutic areas in China including diabetes, respiratory, urology and central nervous system diseases. NovaMed's business model is highly scalable, providing an efficient commercialization engine in the center bolstered by a network of best-in-class research, development, regulatory, and distribution partners in China.

In just two years, NovaMed has developed a directly managed sales organization of 90 people strong and growing.It has also taken on several mid to late stage development initiatives for drug brands acquired from around the world. NovaMed's unique development model will be extended in time from China to India and South Africa, all of which have created global centers of excellence in global drug development.

As one of the most recognizable venture capital firms internationally, Atlas Venture has helped build more than 300 companies in the last 25 years. Over the last decade, its portfolio companies have completed thirty IPOs on twelve different stock exchanges. Atlas Venture boasts an extensive life science portfolio and has launched numerous pharmaceutical companies and remained actively involved with many of them.

According to Zina Affas, Principal at Atlas Venture, "China's rapidly expanding pharmaceutical market is expected to become the fifth largest in the world by 2010 and NovaMed is poised to exploit this growth".She added, "Having evaluated a number of opportunities in China, we identified NovaMed Pharmaceuticals Inc as a clear front-runner with a differentiated, scalable business model. The NovaMed team has already demonstrated its execution skills by in-licensing several products from global pharmaceutical companies, building a robust sales and marketing organization, and generating revenues. We anticipate strong performance from NovaMed moving forward."

Commenting on the deal, Mark Lotter, the co-founder of NovaMed, said, "We are encouraged by the vote of confidence by Atlas Ventures. Atlas has not only contributed financially but has also played an important role in identifying a number of key drug development opportunities for China. The investment will allow NovaMed to accelerate its growth strategy in China and strengthen its current position. We are in the right place at the right time to capitalize on the growing China market, as well as leveraging China's drug development capabilities on a global scale."

The investment of Atlas Venture marks yet another milestone for NovaMed and follows the recent appointment to its Board of Directors of Professor William R. Brody, President of The Johns Hopkins University.

Leading Chinese entrepreneur, Bo Shao, co-founder and Chairman of NovoMed said, "We are honored to have Dr. Brody as part of our leadership team. As one of the most respected figures in the academic and medical communities, Dr. Brody brings a wealth of experience and tremendous value to NovaMed and will add to the company's growth and development capabilities."

Dr. Brody expressed his excitement about joining the Board of NovaMed, "With the leadership of an experienced management team, NovaMed is creating a new model for pharmaceutical companies to provide effective products that address the needs of the rapidly expanding China market and other countries in Asia. I am thrilled to be part of the venture."

NovaMed Pharmaceuticals was founded in August 2005 to provide one-stop-shop service for global pharmaceutical companies and brand owners looking to leverage cost advantage and achieve optimal market potential in China. Through a directly managed sales organization of 90 people strong and growing and an exclusive network of best-in-class research, development, regulatory and distribution partners, NovaMed has built viable commercialization models for products at different stages of their life cycle. These include products already commercially available in China, internationally approved products not yet registered in China, and in-license late stage development compounds. For more information, visit www.novamed.com.cn.

Atlas Venture is a leading early-stage international venture capital firm that invests in technology and life sciences businesses in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Since inception in 1980, its partners have helped build over 300 companies in more than 15 different countries. Since 1990, 44 portfolio companies have been acquired and 40 are now public companies with an aggregate market capitalization of over $12 billion.  Atlas Venture is currently investing from its seventh fund and manages over $2.5 billion in capital through offices in Boston, London, Munich, and Paris. Atlas Venture's life sciences team has been an early investor in close to 100 biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The active portfolio comprises approximately thirty-five life sciences companies today and several new investments are made each year, from seed stage to pre-IPO stage. Atlas Venture's past life sciences investments include companies such as Actelion Pharmaceuticals (SWX: ATLN); Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY); Crucell (NASDAQ: CRXL); deCODE genetics (NASDAQ: DCGN); Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL); Momenta (NASDAQ: MNTA) MorphoSys (Frankfurt: MOR); Newron (SWX: NWRN) and Renovo (LSE: RNVO). For more information, visit www.atlasventure.com.