Colorado BioScience Association
Colorado BioScience Association

ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals Wins the Second Annual Faegre & Benson Venture Showcase Award, Presented at BioWest 2006

ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals has won the second annual Faegre & Benson Venture Showcase Award at the BioWest 2006 conference in Denver. The announcement is made by Chris Shapard, bioscience director at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), who says the $10,000 Venture Showcase Award was again provided by the Faegre & Benson law firm and announced at the Colorado Bioscience Association (CBSA) Awards banquet held Thurs. evening at the Colo. Convention Center.

Denver, CO, August 25, 2006 --(PR.com)-- ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals (Aurora) won the second annual Faegre & Benson Venture Showcase Award at BioWest 2006. The announcement is made by Chris Shapard, bioscience director at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), who says the $10,000 Venture Showcase Award was again provided by the Faegre & Benson law firm and announced at the Colorado Bioscience Association (CBSA) Awards banquet held Thursday evening at the Colorado Convention Center. 

ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals is a startup phase biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutic products that target apoptotic cell death pathways found in tumor cells and proliferating immune cells (lymphocytes). The Company was formed in 2006 to capitalize on the intellectual property of its Founding Scientists and University of Colorado Cancer Center members, Richard C. Duke, Ph.D., Donald Bellgrau, Ph.D., Paul A. Bunn, M.D., Daniel Chan, Ph.D., Lajos Gera, Ph.D., Jaime Modiano, D.V.M., Ph.D. and John Stewart, Ph.D.  Putting it most simply, ApopLogic induces cancer cells and autoimmune lymphocytes to commit suicide.  Therapeutic products include:

* Breceptin: A novel neuropeptide growth factor receptor antagonist that targets a broad range of cancers.

* Cytonil: A proprietary combination of a cell-type specific growth factor and a cell signaling agonist to treat Sezary leukemia, cutaneous T cell lymphoma and psoriasis.

* Fasaret: A proprietary therapy based on Fas ligand, an apoptotic cell death-inducing molecule with unique pro-inflammatory properties, for the treatment of cancers.

Building on strong pre-clinical data, ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals is outlining detailed clinical development plans to rapidly move Breceptin and Fasaret into phase 1 human clinical trials that could begin within 12 months of series A financing. 

ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals competed against six other Rocky Mountain regional companies for this honor. Additional participants included Caveo Therapeutics (Aurora); LigoCyte (Bozeman, Montana); MBC Pharma, Inc. (Boulder); MedShape Solutions (Castle Rock); Solix Biofuels (Boulder); and TheraTogs, Inc. (Telluride). A brief explanation of each company’s technology and business plan can be found at http://www.biowestconference.com/venture_showcase.html. 

According to Denise Brown, CBSA Executive Director, representatives of each competing company had 10 minutes to present their technologies and business plans to a panel of bioscience venture capitalists on Wednesday afternoon. The venture capitalist panelists included: Kyle Lefkoff, Boulder Ventures, who served as moderator; Heidi Huntsman, UV Partners; Paul Grand, RCT Ventures; and Giovanni Ferrara, Burrill and Company. 

Additional awards presented at the CBSA Annual Awards dinner included: 

* Lifetime Achievement Awards
o Governor Bill Owens
o Mr. Paul Ray

* 2006 Company of the Year Award
Myogen, Inc.

* 2006 Rising Star Awards
o C5 Medical Werks
o Taligen Therapeutics

* Volunteer of the Year Award
Dr. Richard Duke, a founding scientist and Director of GlobeImmune and current President and CEO of start-up Apoplogic

* 2006 Partner of the Year Award
Ms. Maggie Chamberlin Holben, Founder, Absolutely Public Relations

* Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade Excellence Award for Advancement of the Bioscience Industry
Mr. Kyle Lefkoff, General Partner, Boulder Ventures

About the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade

OEDIT works with companies starting, expanding, or relocating in Colorado. OEDIT offers a wide range of services to assist new and existing business of every size. Visit http://www.AdvanceColorado.com

About Colorado BioScience Association

CBSA is a not-for-profit corporation providing services and support for Colorado's growing biosciences industry. With more than 300 members, CBSA actively works to promote the growth of the industry by working for a better business environment, grow the state's biotech workforce, fight for policies that support a strong bioscience industry in the state and speak with a single voice on behalf of the industry.  For more information, visit http://www.cobioscience.com

About Faegre & Benson LLP

Faegre & Benson LLP is a full-service law firm with offices in Denver, Boulder, Minneapolis, Des Moines, London, Frankfurt and Shanghai, with more than 100 attorneys in Colorado and more than 475 worldwide.  Faegre & Benson is proud to support the Colorado and national bioscience industry with services in corporate law, intellectual property, labor and employment, financial transactions and a wide range of other legal services.  For more information, visit http://www.faegre.com 

About ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals, LLC

ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals, LLC is a startup phase biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutic products that target apoptotic cell death pathways found in cancers, leukemias and lymphomas. The Company was formed in 2006 to capitalize on the intellectual property of its Founding Scientists and University of Colorado Cancer Center members, Richard C. Duke, Ph.D., Donald Bellgrau, Ph.D., Paul A. Bunn, M.D., Daniel Chan, Ph.D., Lajos Gera, Ph.D., Jaime Modiano, D.V.M., Ph.D. and John Stewart, Ph.D. Put most simply, ApopLogic is inducing rapidly dividing cells to commit suicide. Visit: http://www.apoplogic.com.

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Contacts:

Christine Shapard, Director of Bioscience and Emerging Industries, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, 303.892.3840, Christine.shapard@state.co.us

Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, Absolutely Public Relations http://www.absolutelypr.com -- 303.984.9801, maggie@absolutelypr.com
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Colorado BioScience Association
Maggie Holben
303-984-9801
http://www.cobioscience.com
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