AEgera Therapeutics (Montreal, PQ)
CMDF Investment: $5,573,000 
Private Company
Focus:Cancer  Central Nervous System Disorders  Cardiovascular Diseases & Blood Products  Parkinson's Disease  
Company Website

CMDF was instrumental in the creation of Aegera Therapeutics Inc. in May 2000 through the merger of two CMDF portfolio companies - Apoptogen Inc.; (Ottawa) and Exogen Neurosciences Inc.; (Montreal). Aegera brings together exciting technologies involved in identifying and manipulating cellular pathways implicated in the survival; growth and death of nerve cells. Several neurodegenerative disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are believed to result from genetic alterations within nerve cells that lead to abnormal; premature cell death. From its unique knowledge of the genetic processes involved in these diseases; Aegera is developing novel therapies to extend and enhance the lives of people suffering from acute and chronic neurodegenerative conditions and nerve injuries. In addition a proprietary therapeutic approach to cancer; is also under development in the company's wholly owned subsidiary; Aegera Oncology; based upon the restoration of normal cell death mechanisms to cancer cells.

Ambit Biosciences Canada (Toronto, On)
CMDF Investment: $6,082,000 
Private Company
Focus:Cancer  Central Nervous System Disorders  Inflammatory Diseases  
Company Website

Ambit Biosciences is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company that uses groundbreaking technology to discover and develop proprietary small molecule drugs for a variety of clinical indications. Our lead drug candidates include neuroprotectants for treatment of stroke and other CNS disorders and kinase inhibitors for treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Excel-Tech (Markham, ON)
CMDF Investment: $3,000,000 
Private Company
Focus:Central Nervous System Disorders  Other  
Company Website

Excel-Tech is a manufacturer of high end; technologically advanced neuromuscular and neuropsychological instruments for the complete spectrum of diagnostics through monitoring of patients over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Excel-Tech has developed the expertise to provide the most reliable;technologically advanced; high performance systems available today through 15 years of advancements in multiple areas of research and development such as: perfecting the acquisition of medical signals and broadcasting this data synchronized with voice and video over IP networks; electronic layout and design; 3D mechanical design; robotic mechanical manufacturing; and advanced process control.

NeuroMed Technologies (Vancouver, BC)
CMDF Investment: $4,592,000 
Private Company
Focus:Central Nervous System Disorders  Cardiovascular Diseases & Blood Products  
Company Website

Neuromed Technologies is a private biopharmaceutical company committed to developing the next generation of chronic pain drugs. It is the only company in the world with a sole focus on target-specific calcium channel drugs. Launched in 1998; Neuromed has strong financial backing; outstanding research and development staff and a lead candidate in clinical trials. The company's proprietary methodology and advanced electrophysiological screening systems give them a competitive advantage in drug discovery. Neuromed's pipeline programs are designed around validated clinical targets associated with large; unmet markets including pain; anxiety; epilepsy and cardiovascular diseases. The company's lead chronic pain drug candidate is the first orally available selective N-type calcium channel blocker to be tested in clinical trials. Neuromed's drugs are aimed at large markets currently underserved due to either a lack of suitably effective therapeutics or by drugs fraught with considerable side effects

Painceptor Pharma (Ottawa, ON)
CMDF Investment: $4,526,000 
Private Company
Focus:Central Nervous System Disorders  Alzheimer's Disease  
Company Website

PainCeptor Pharma Corporation is a Canadian-based; private biopharmaceutical company focused on drug development for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. The Company has lead compounds active at several sites in the peripheral nervous system and expects to begin clinical trials for these programs in late 2005. The Company's pioneering approaches to pain management are fortified by a strong and extensive intellectual property portfolio with 33 issued patents and 43 active filings. Effective pain therapy is one of the most pressing and serious unmet medical needs. Last year the market for pain management exceeded CAD 30 billion in sales worldwide and is expected to increase steadily over the next decade with the aging of the population. PainCeptor will focus its drug development efforts primarily on chronic malignant / non-malignant pain; including peripheral neuropathic pain indications. The Company was recently established in May 2003 by the merger of Antalium Inc. and Neuroceptor Inc.; two companies with complementary technologies in-licensed from the Montreal Neurological Institute (McGill University) and Queen's University; respectively. In subsequent transactions; supplemental Antalium intellectual property was acquired from NeuroSearch A/S; a Danish pharmaceutical company. Neuroceptor; on the other hand; further strengthened its intellectual property portfolio through a licensing agreement with Allelix Pharmaceuticals (now NPS-Allelix). PainCeptor compounds are active in vivo. These compounds modulate ion channels and neurotrophin receptors specifically expressed in the peripheral nervous system (PNS); which constitutes the first line of defense against pain.

Transition Therapeutics (Toronto, ON)
CMDF Investment: $2,049,000 
Public (TSX : TTH)
Focus:Cardiovascular Diseases & Blood Products  Central Nervous System Disorders  Diabetes  
Company Website

Transition is a product-focused biopharmaceutical company; developing novel therapeutics for disease indications with large markets. The company’s lead products include regenerative therapies E1-I.N.T.™ and GLP1-I.N.T.™ for the treatment of diabetes; MS-I.E.T. for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and HCV-I.E.T. for the treatment of hepatitis C. Transition has commenced a Phase II clinical trial for MS-I.E.T. in patients with multiple sclerosis and has received clearance to initiate an exploratory Phase IIa clinical trial to evaluate efficacy; safety; and tolerability of E1-I.N.T.™ in both type I and type II diabetes patients. In addition; a phase I/II clinical trial of its product; HCV-I.E.T. in hepatitis C patients is planned for the first quarter of calendar 2005.