<body.content> <block> <p>MONTREAL, Nov. 26 /PRNewswire/ — Chronogen Inc., a drug discovery company developing therapeutics to treat highly prevalent age-dependent diseases, todayannounced an initial closing of $17 million (CAN) in an ongoing series B financing. This new round of financing closes as Chronogen continues to build its multidisciplinary team of scientists,expands its operations, and acquires technologies to complement its drug discovery programs.</p> <p>Desjardins Venture Capital led the financing and was joined by the Business DevelopmentBank of Canada (BDC). Current investors, CDP Capital- Technology Ventures and T2C2/Bio 2000 Limited Partnership, also participated in the financing.</p> <p>”We are proud to have succeededin bringing our investor partners on board to complete this financing,” says Mr. Jose Larrea, Vice President, Life Sciences, at Desjardins Venture Capital. “Chronogen has paired a high calibre teamwith an innovative project offering an exceptional potential,” he concludes.</p> <p>”BDC was attracted to the investment opportunity in Chronogen by the combination of a unique set oftechnologies”, said Dr. Charlie Fong, Director, Venture Capital, Business Development Bank of Canada. “The technology delivers drug targets with unusually strong biology from which effectivetherapies can be developed. This financing will allow to build a globally-competitive company for age-dependent diseases”, added Dr. Fong.</p> <p>”Chronogen has established a uniqueposition in an exciting area of genetics of aging and related cardiovascular diseases” noted Denis Dionne, President of CDP Capital – Technology Ventures. “With today’s announcement, the company willbe in a better position to achieve its vision and build its future in a growing market”</p> <p>”Closing this round in tough economic times reinforces the confidence the investmentcommunity has in broad applications of our technology, low capital intensive business model and the significant market potential for Chronogen’s drug development pipeline”, said Dr. Iraj Beheshti,President and CEO of Chronogen. “We are pleased to close the initial phase of this significant financing, which gives us the resources to move forward energetically toward building the leading drugdevelopment company for age-dependent diseases, with an initial focus on cardiovascular disorders”.</p> <p>About Chronogen Inc.</p> <p>Chronogen Inc., a biotechnology companyheadquartered in Montreal, Canada, is a leader in the identification of targets that control the degenerative processes of aging. Based on this innovative approach, the company is developing novelproducts to control lipid and oxidative stress levels, which are established disease mechanisms in cardiovascular disorders. The control of aging in whole model organisms has provided very valuableassets for a drug discovery technology that will lead to novel and efficacious drugs in significant markets including atherosclerosis, vascular complications of diabetes, and ischemia/reperfusioninjuries. (<a>http://www.chronogen-inc.com/</a>)</p> <p>About Desjardins Venture Capital</p> <p>Established in 1974, Desjardins Venture Capital is the venturecapital fund management arm of the Desjardins Group. It manages the assets of Desjardins, six Desjardins regional investment funds and Capital regional et cooperatif Desjardins, a public fund createdin 2001 whose authorized capitalization is $1.425-billion. More than a financial partner, Desjardins Venture Capital makes its network and expertise available for businesses in their startup, growthand expansion, as well as their plans for mergers, acquisitions or public offerings. More than 150 companies are already associated with Desjardins Venture Capital.(<a>http://www.dcrdesjardins.com/</a>)</p> <p>About Business Development Bank of Canada</p> <p>The Business Development Bank of Canada is a financial institutionwholly owned by the Government of Canada. BDC plays a leadership role in delivering financial, investment and consulting services to Canadian small businesses, with a particular focus on thetechnology and export sectors of the economy. (<a>http://www.bdc.ca/</a>)</p> <p>About CDP Capital – Technology</p> <p>CDP Capital – Technology Ventures, asubsidiary of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, invests in innovative companies with promising leading- edge technologies. It also develops partnerships with venture capital funds in Canada,the United States and Europe. Through its portfolios I and II, CDP Capital – Technology Ventures has invested, in 2002, in about 53 companies and investment funds in biotechnology and life sciences,information technologies and energy technologies. The market value of the total assets under management by CDP Capital – Technology Ventures is almost CA$1.0 billion.(<a>http://www.cdpcapital.com/technologyventures</a>)</p> <p>About T2C2/Bio 2000</p> <p>T2C2/Bio 2000 (Transfer, Technologies, Commercialization, Capital) has amission to seek out business opportunities offered by universities, research centres and industry and to translate them into concrete achievements. The project-selection criteria include science andscientists of outstanding calibre, intellectual property and commercial potential. In the first phase, T2C2/Bio 2000 is involved in funding research and organizing business engineering. In the secondphase, it takes part with other investors in the first round of financing. (<a>http://www.t2c2capital.com/</a>) </p> <datasource>CHRONOGEN INC.</datasource></block> <block class=”contact”> <p>CONTACT: Iraj Beheshti, Ph.D., President &amp; CEO,<br/><virtloc idsrc=”dummy”value=”dummy”>ibeheshti@chronogen-inc.com</virtloc>, (514)-521-9595, ext. 202; Maha Katabi, Ph.D.,<br/>Executive Director, Business Development, <virtloc idsrc=”dummy”value=”dummy”>mkatabi@chronogen-inc.com</virtloc>,<br/>(514)-521-9595, ext. 201</p> </block> </body.content>