16th November 2009

Sygnature Chemical Services Ltd., a leading provider of medicinal and computational chemistry services to the global pharmaceutical industry, and RespiVert Ltd., a small molecule drug discovery company developing improved treatments for patients with severe respiratory disease, today provided an update on their research collaboration, first announced in January 2008. Under the terms of the agreement Sygnature have provided a comprehensive medicinal chemistry discovery platform for two of RepiVert’s leading programmes aimed at identifying novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of poorly controlled, steroid refractory pulmonary disease.

Dr John Murray, Director of Medicinal Chemistry at RespiVert said, "We selected Sygnature as the first of our principal collaborators, in September 2007, based upon their outstanding track record in providing ‘state-of the-art’ medicinal chemistry to drug discovery clients in the UK and abroad. After working in close partnership with our Sygnature colleagues throughout this period, our high expectations of them have been fully realised. Together, we have established an integrated drug discovery team which has created a valuable portfolio of IP assets and delivered preclinical candidates in two of our respiratory disease-focused programmes. I have been particularly impressed with the intellectual input that Sygnature’s scientists have made to our research enterprise; their flair for providing innovative solutions to difficult problems and their consistently high level of productivity. We are delighted with the success of our association with Sygnature and pleased to acknowledge the important contribution they have made to Respivert’s accomplishments over the last two years.”

Commenting on the partnership, Dr Simon Hirst, Sygnature’s CEO said, “The discovery collaboration between RespiVert and Sygnature has been extremely fruitful and two projects have delivered candidate molecules, in less than 24 months, which are on-track to enter the clinic in 2010. I am proud of the contribution made by Sygnature’s medicinal chemists to RespiVert’s drug discovery programmes. The success of the collaboration with RespiVert confirms our ability to create value for our clients by providing ’top tier‘ science in a close working relationship, that puts an emphasis on shared goals and values. This ethos, together with complete transparency in our dealings with clients are the principal attributes that Sygnature brings to its professional interactions. We look forward to continuing working with RespiVert in the future, and wish them every success in progressing the clinical development of their drug candidates.”

About Sygnature Chemical Services Ltd.
Sygnature CSL, founded in 2004, is a leading UK-based provider of premium medicinal chemistry, synthetic chemistry, array/focused library and computational chemistry services. The Company delivers high value and quality to its clients by applying in-house scientific expertise and ‘state-of-the-art’ technologies to the discovery of novel drug candidates. Sygnature’s team of 34 industry-experienced chemists (75% with PhDs) undertakes key elements of the drug discovery process, such as hit identification, hit-to-lead and lead optimisation, to afford novel compounds in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner. We work closely with our clients’ scientists to accelerate their drug candidates into development and thereby increase the value of their R&D discovery programmes. Over the past five years, Sygnature has established an enviable reputation and excellent track record of success with an international client base.

For more information on Sygnature CSL visit www.sygnaturechem.com .

About RespiVert Ltd.
RespiVert is a small molecule drug discovery company working towards the identification of new treatments for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and severe asthma. The more severe forms of these diseases are poorly responsive to existing therapies, such as inhaled corticosteroids, and new disease-modifying treatments are urgently required.

RespiVert was established to identify a new generation of inhaled treatments for serious lung diseases and is progressing three discrete programmes, all of which are expected to enter clinical development in 2010. The company was co-founded by Drs Garth Rapeport and Peter Strong (both ex GSK); together with Professor Peter Barnes FRS and Dr Kazuhiro Ito, based at the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI), Imperial College, London, and Dr John Murray (ex OSI Pharmaceuticals). Respivert investors include Advent Venture Partners, SV Life Sciences, Fidelity Biosciences and Imperial Innovations.

For more information, see www.respivert.com

Contacts:
Dr Simon Hirst
Chief Executive Officer
Sygnature Chemical Services Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)115 941 5401
Email: s.hirst@sygnaturechem.com Dr Garth Rapeport
Chief Executive Officer
RespiVert Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)7717 742 704
Email: garth@respivert.com

© 2009 Sygnature Chemical Services Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sygnature Chemical Services Ltd. is a company incorporated in England, with company number 05210563, whose registered office and principal place of business is at BioCity, Pennyfoot Street, Nottingham, NG1 1GF, United Kingdom.