VARIAGENICS, INC. Closes $19.0 Million Financing /

Taylor J. Crouch Appointed as President and CEO Cambridge, Mass. (PROTEXT) - VARIAGENICS, INC. announced todaythat it has completed a $19.0 million round of financing tocontinue its pharmacogenomic research programs and to move theCompany into a new commercial phase in applying its services tothe pharmaceutical industry. This round was led by The SproutGroup, the venture capital affiliate of Donaldson, Lufkin &Jenrette and included new investor A.M. Pappas and Associates aswell as existing investors: Atlas Venture, Oxford BiosciencePartners, Forward Ventures, Kummell Investments Ltd., Goldman,Sachs & Co. and Advent International. As part of the financing,Philippe Chambon, M.D., Ph.D., General Partner of The SproutGroup, will join the company's Board of Directors. VARIAGENICS also announced that it has appointed Taylor J.Crouch as President and CEO. Mr. Crouch was most recently SeniorVice President, Worldwide Marketing and Strategic Development atPAREXEL International. Dr. Fred Ledley, the company's formerPresident and CEO, will continue to work with the company as aPrincipal Scientific Advisor. "My move to VARIAGENICS reflects my strong belief thatpharmacogenomics represents the most promising frontier in thehealthcare industry and, as such, will make a profound impact onthe evolution of disease management in the coming years," saidMr. Crouch. "This successful financing reflects our investors'belief that in the near term, pharamcogenomics is becoming astrategic engine for reducing the timelines and costs of drugdevelopment while serving to enhance the product profiles andultimate market penetration of promising new drugs. VARIAGENICS'pragmatic approach to linking variances in the genetic pathwaysof drug action is enabled by its broad technology platform andits multiple year investment to characterize tens of thousands oftargeted genes affecting drug action impacting potential clinicaloutcomes." Mr. Crouch noted that the funds are being applied primarily tocomplete the variance discovery program for all relevant genescurrently targeted for drug development and to establish thecorresponding diagnostic genotyping assays which will enableclinical associations to be confirmed. In addition, VARIAGENICSwill continue to invest in its technology platform and its owndiscovery research programs in selected therapeutic areas. Mr. Crouch joins VARIAGENICS with more than 18 years ofpharmaceutical management and marketing experience, most recentlyat PAREXEL International. In 1991, Mr. Crouch joined PAREXEL asVice President, Marketing and Sales, Europe and in 1994, hebecame Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Sales, andwas responsible, during his tenure, for increasing net revenuesfive-fold while establishing formal strategic alliances withpharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and leading academicinstitutions. Mr. Crouch is an authority on global pharmaceuticaldevelopment and marketing, having managed multinational sectorsand products in the United States and abroad with leadingpharmaceutical companies, including Schering-Plough Inc., PfizerInternational, and Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Crouch earned hisM.B.A. from the University of Chicago and his B.S. in ChemicalEngineering, cum laude, from Princeton University. VARIAGENICS, INC. identifies clinically important variances ingenes that affect drug action and applies this information to thediscovery and development of new pharmaceutical products,diagnostic products, and disease- management practices.Variagenics has a broadly enabling, proprietary technologyplatform for rapidly discovering normal genetic variations andestablishing associations between variant genetic sequences andthe clinical efficacy and safety of new pharmaceutical products.Variagenics is a privately held, venture-backed company locatedin Cambridge, Massachusetts. ots Original Text Service:VARIAGENICS, INC. Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact:Taylor Crouch President CEO of VARIAGENICS, INC. Tel.: (USA) 617-588-5300 or Gretchen Schweitzer Director of Feinstein KeanPartners Inc. Tel.: (USA) 617-577-8110

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