SRI International Announces New Spin-off, Bridge Pharmaceuticals; Spin-Off Secures $3.5 Million Series A Round to Develop and Commercialize New Drugs Cost-Effectively.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

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MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2004

SRI International, an independent research and development organization, today announced the launch of Bridge Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Bridge recently closed $3.5M through a Series A investment round led by WI Harper Group. Additional investors include Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) ITIC Fund, the Development Center for Biotechnology (DCB), YFY Group, and Singapore's Springboard Harper. Bridge is focused on cost-effective development of FDA-compliant therapeutic drugs in Asia for the U.S. and E.U. markets.

"For perhaps the first time, validated FDA drug development expertise is being integrated with flagship bioresearch laboratories in Asia," said Peter Liu, chairman of WI Harper Group. "Bridge offers therapeutic drug development services in a U.S.-managed, quality-controlled environment for shorter cycle times at greatly reduced costs."

Bridge provides technical (standard operating procedure-driven) expertise and quality assurance/regulatory management in the United States. Bridge's initial preclinical capabilities include medicinal chemistry, assay development and screening, toxicology, pharmacokinetics and metabolism, formulation, and protein expression. Via strategic partnerships, Bridge will work with highly qualified talent and facilities in flagship Asian laboratories. Bridge also expects to work closely with SRI International, which has in-depth technical expertise, an extensive client network and a strong 40-year track record with the FDA.

In addition to providing drug development services, Bridge will leverage significant government R&D support to selectively develop a captive drug pipeline. Bridge has acquired an option to in-license three late-stage preclinical drugs for treatment of cancer from SRI.

In collaboration with SRI's PharmaSTART initiative, Bridge will expand its drug development pipeline through selected candidate in-licenses. PharmaSTART (BioPharmaceutical Support for Translating and Advancing Research and Technology) is a consortium led by SRI, with four leading California research organizations as founding members: Stanford University; the University of California, San Diego (UCSD); the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); and the University of California, Berkeley.

"Through PharmaSTART and Bridge Pharmaceuticals, SRI is proactively providing a novel mechanism to accelerate and translate university-based research at greatly reduced costs," said Edward Holmes, M.D., vice chancellor of health sciences at UCSD.

About SRI International

Silicon Valley-based SRI International (http://www.sri.com) is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for more than 55 years. The nonprofit research institute performs contract research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and nonprofit foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.