Feb 06 08:
Augurex Life Sciences Corp. is pleased to announce that it has completed a seed round of financing raising more than $1MM CDN which will support the product development program for its proprietary arthritis biomarker and build a multi-product company over the next year. Norma Biln, Augurex’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder said, "With the successful completion of this initial financing, Augurex now has the first tranche of funding required to bring its lead arthritis biomarker product to market during 2010".

Mike Volker, President of the Western Universities Technology Innovation Fund (WUTIF), and an early investor in Augurex stated, "WUTIF was attracted to Augurex because we like to invest early in promising companies, ahead of institutional investors and at attractive valuations, as was the case with this company."

Augurex will be generating additional diagnostic testing data in the spring that will help to indicate the potential size of this product’s opportunity in arthritis.

In conjunction with securing the seed financing, the company is also pleased to announce that it has expanded its team of advisors to support corporate and scientific development.

In addition to current strategic advisors Eric Adams (enGene), Sage Baker (Aspreva), Bob Bryan (formerly ID Biomedical) and Gardiner Smith (Paragon-IP), Bill Stanger, Senior Legal Counsel with Angiotech has now joined the team and will liaise with Augurex’s external counsel to assist in ensuring good corporate governance.

Dr. Walter Maksymowych, Clinical Rheumatologist at the University of Alberta is the co- inventor of this technology and a recognized leader in the biomarker area. He has joined Augurex as a Clinical Advisor. Dr. Maksymowych has been instrumental in introducing Augurex to international key opinion leaders and assisting management in defining the strategic opportunities and unmet medical needs in the clinic.

Two additional key clinical advisors joining Augurex are Dr. Kam Shojania and Dr. Kenneth Blocka who are accomplished Vancouver-based rheumatologists and have served on advisory teams with international pharmaceutical companies and have led and participated extensively in arthritis clinical trials.

"Recent publications of data on our novel, proprietary blood test for arthritis has gained the interest of several worldwide leaders in this field and has helped us attract the financing and expertise necessary to take this product to the next level. We are privileged to have access to this level of expertise," noted Biln.

To assist us with the statistical design and analysis of the studies, Dr. George Wells from the University of Ottawa will be joining Augurex’s Clinical Advisors. Dr. Wells will liaise with the rheumatologists to ensure that the statistical rigor required for product development will maximize the integrity of the future clinical data. Dr. Wells has played a key role in the design of several arthritis biomarker studies.

Dr. Anthony Marotta, Augurex’s Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder says, "At a time when the biotech market is seeing some challenges we appreciate the enthusiasm that we have been met with by investors, researchers and clinical experts. I think it speaks to the promise, that they believe, our technology holds and to the significant impact that the product may have on the clinical management of arthritis."

About The Impact of Arthritis
It is estimated that 124 million people worldwide suffer from different forms of arthritis, and earn on average 10% less income than healthy individuals. Fifty percent (50%) of patients with a specific form of arthritis, called rheumatoid arthritis, cannot work within 10 years of their diagnosis due to the debilitating nature of the disease.

About Biomarkers
Biomarkers can be measured in the blood to indicate to doctors what might be going on in the body. This assists physicians in making a proper diagnosis, understanding the speed at which the disease is progressing, whether further diagnostic testing is required and/or the appropriate drugs to prescribe. Biomarkers are playing an increasingly important role in today’s healthcare environment with a significant focus on early disease detection, personalized medicine and the use of markers in pharmaceutical clinical studies to measure the effectiveness of drugs and their side effects. Food and drug regulators are putting an emphasis on the use of biomarkers, as was outlined in the Critical Path Opportunities Report put out by the FDA in March of 2006.

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Oct 11 07:
Augurex Life Sciences Corp. is pleased to announce that it has entered into a license agreement with the University of British Columbia for the rights to develop and commercialize a technology for the diagnosis of arthritis. The agreement gives Augurex an exclusive world-wide license to the diagnostic technology, which is a co-invention between the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia.

Currently, the only clinically approved way to detect structural damage in arthritis is through the use of imaging, such as x-rays, which require significant cost and expertise to interpret. It is planned that the Augurex blood test will provide doctors with a quantitative readout which would allow them to make an immediate clinical decision for the management of arthritis patients. The diagnosis, treatment and productivity loss related to arthritis currently costs the healthcare system $7 billion per year in Canada and $80 billion USD in the United States.

Dr. Anthony Marotta, Augurex’s Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder, said, "Earlier and more effective methods of diagnosing and managing the disease, including the selection of appropriate drug treatments, could help increase the productivity of arthritis patients and allow them to live healthier lives which would ultimately reduce the massive economic draw of this disease on the healthcare system."

The co-inventors of the technology, Drs. Aziz Ghahary, Ruhangiz Kilani from the University of British Columbia and Dr. Walter Maksymowych from the University of Alberta are recognized leaders in their fields and Augurex looks forward to working closely with them to maximize the utility of the blood test so that arthritis patients may benefit from their innovative discovery.

It is estimated that 124 million people worldwide suffer from different forms of arthritis, and earn on average 10% less income than healthy individuals. Fifty percent (50%) of patients with a specific form of arthritis, called rheumatoid arthritis, cannot work within 10 years of their diagnosis due to the debilitating nature of the disease.

According to Norma Biln, Augurex’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, "We believe that the arthritis blood test that Augurex is developing has the potential to provide a positive impact on the quality of life for arthritis patients since earlier detection coupled with the appropriate treatment could slow down the irreversible progression of the disease."

About Biomarkers
Biomarkers can be measured in the blood to indicate to doctors what might be going on in the body. This helps them make a proper diagnosis and make decisions regarding the speed at which the disease is progressing, the appropriate drugs to prescribe or whether further diagnostic testing is required. Biomarkers are playing an increasingly important role in today’s healthcare environment with a significant focus on early disease detection, personalized medicine and the use of markers in pharmaceutical clinical studies to measure the effectiveness of drugs and their side effects. Food and drug regulators are putting an emphasis on the use of biomarkers, as was outlined in the Critical Path Opportunities Report put out by the FDA in March of 2006. http://www.fda.gov

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Oct 02 07:
Augurex Life Sciences Corp. was the proud recipient of $60,000 as the first-prize winner of the New Ventures BC Competition awarded on September 26, 2007. This year the four-round competition attracted over 80 entrants. To win, competitors had to convince a jury of venture capitalists, financiers and angel investors that their business idea was commercially viable and that they could execute it in the marketplace.

According to Norma Biln, Augurex’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, "This business competition is an excellent opportunity for start-up technology companies in BC because it provides an avenue to network, gain exposure and can subsequently facilitate the acquisition of early financing."

Dr. Anthony Marotta, Augurex’s Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder, added, "The timing of the competition coincided nicely with our development program and business planning. Since the competition gives entrepreneurs access to business seminars run by leading venture experts, it was like a refresher MBA that assisted us in filling in the gaps for a more thorough plan."

Augurex would like to thank the volunteer mentors and judges, the organizers and sponsors (especially BC Hydro) and several individuals who offered their time and expertise outside of the competition. "We are also grateful to our Industrial Technology Advisor at the National Research Council Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program who made us aware of this competition back in April," said Biln, "and we look forward to "giving back" to the competition as our company grows and achieves success."

New Ventures BC, one of the largest entrepreneurial competitions in North America, was established in 2000 by the Simon Fraser University Business School in British Columbia, Canada. It is operated by the non-profit BC Ventures Society and made possible through the generous support of both private and public sponsors as well as more than 150 volunteer mentors, judges, speakers and workshop leaders.

Please visit www.newventuresbc.com for more information about the competition.

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