Glide Pharmaceutical Technologies, new investment in novel drug delivery technology

Oxford, UK, 10 August 2007

Glide Pharma, the specialty pharmaceutical company developing products based on its innovative needle-free Glide SDI™ drug delivery system, has raised £2.3 million. The round involved existing shareholders, as well as new investors including Oxford Capital Partners. Under a separate agreement, Glide Pharma has also entered into an exclusive licence and distribution deal with Paladin Labs Inc, a leading Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company, for Glide Pharma products in Canada.

Located at Milton Park, Oxfordshire, Glide Pharma has developed the Glide SDI, an easy to use drug delivery system that injects drugs in solid dosage form into the skin without the need for a needle. The Company recently won the Best Business Award at the prestigious Medical Futures Innovation Awards 2007 for the Glide SDI, which GPs and patients have praised as a device that is ideal for self-administration of drugs at home and particularly suitable for needle phobics – during trials, patients overwhelmingly preferred an injection with the Glide SDI to an injection by needle and syringe.

Glide Pharma is developing its own range of Glide-branded drug products and part of the funding will be used to take the Company’s first new drug product, GP02, into clinical trials in autumn 2007. GP02 is a needle-free version of immediate release octreotide acetate, one of Novartis’ top ten selling drugs with almost a billion dollar market, that is now ‘off patent’. Octreotide is used to treat neuroendocrine tumours and acromegaly, a chronic condition caused by abnormally high amounts of growth hormone that causes enlargement of body tissues, including the bones of the face, hands, feet, and skull, and can result in serious disease and lead to premature death.

Dr Charles Potter, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Glide Pharma, said: “We are delighted to have secured the funding we need to take our first Glide Pharma drug product through clinical trials. We are also excited to be partnering with Paladin, a dynamic and creative company with a track record of successfully launching innovative pharmaceutical products in Canada. The Glide SDI is ideally suited to the delivery of many drugs not only because of the simplicity of the device but also because of the enhanced stability and potential for controlled release of the drug when injected in a solid dosage form.”

The funding round represents a hat trick for Glide Pharma as this is the third time that the Company has completed an over-subscribed funding round in a matter of weeks.

David Mott, Investment Director of Oxford Capital Partners, said: “The Oxford life science cluster has an exceptional heritage in needle-free drug delivery and Glide Pharma has already captured the attention of the big pharma companies. As a specialist investor in the medical technologies sector, we are pleased to add Glide Pharma to our portfolio.”

Information for editors

Please contact:
Joanne Telford
Oxford Capital Partners
Tel: 01865 860 760
jtelford@oxcp.com
www.oxcp.com

About Oxford Capital Partners

Oxford Capital Partners is a science and technology venture capital firm with extensive experience in investing in and supporting businesses with high growth potential. Oxford Capital Partners looks for the best opportunities, backing exceptional entrepreneurs and investing across all stages of development, from start-up to IPO. Leveraging its extensive networks, Oxford Capital Partners assists portfolio companies in accessing international markets in Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia. Oxford Capital Partners is the manager of four Oxford Gateway Funds and oversees a portfolio of over 25 companies in a range of technology sectors, including ICT, clean technologies, life and physical sciences.

Oxford Capital Partners was named Venture Capital House of the Year 2005 at the Unquote Awards.

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