Clarus Ventures Hires Former Merck President Ed Scolnick and Broad Institute Scientist...

Clarus Ventures Hires Former Merck President Ed Scolnick and Broad Institute
Scientist Finny Kuruvilla

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ --
Clarus Ventures, LLC ("Clarus Ventures"), a leading life sciences venture
capital firm, announced today the hiring of Edward Scolnick, M.D., as a
Venture Partner and Finny Kuruvilla, M.D., Ph.D., as a Principal in the Firm's
Cambridge, Mass. office.

"Both Drs. Scolnick and Kuruvilla have clinical backgrounds rooted in their
deep understanding of science and technology," said Nick Galakatos, Ph.D., a
Managing Director for Clarus. "Their addition to our Clarus team will further
enhance our ability to identify and build companies with highly innovative
products that address significant unmet medical needs."

Dr. Edward Scolnick joins Clarus Ventures as a Venture Partner, exclusive to
the firm, from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard where he is Director of
the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. In this capacity he oversees the
leading effort in the world to identify the genetic basis of schizophrenia and
bipolar illness and to find innovative medicines to treat these illnesses.
Prior to the Broad, Dr. Scolnick was President of the Merck Research Labs
where over a 17-year period he oversaw the discovery, development and approval
of over 16 new medicines across several disease indications. He joined Merck
from the National Institutes of Health where for 15 years seminal discoveries
were made on the nature of cancer-causing genes in humans.

Dr. Scolnick received his bachelor's degree in biochemical sciences from
Harvard University and his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School. He
completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General
Hospital. He was a Senior Staff Fellow at both the National Heart Institute
and National Cancer Institute. He was later Head of the Genetics Section in
the Viral Leukemia & Lymphoma Branch, Chief of the Laboratory of Tumor Virus
Genetics and Head of the Molecular Virology Section, LTVG, at the National
Cancer Institute.

"Few physician scientists are as accomplished and have made such a fundamental
impact in the pharmaceutical industry as Ed Scolnick," said Dr. Galakatos.
"His deep understanding of medicine and unprecedented record of success in
drug development will greatly assist us in selecting the most promising young
companies to invest in."

Dr. Finny Kuruvilla joins Clarus Ventures from the Broad Institute of Harvard
and MIT where he led a collaborative effort with Affymetrix (NASDAQ: AFFX) in
medical genetics. This work resulted in the development of novel tools that
allow the massively parallel interrogation of clinical DNA samples. This
system is presently being used globally to study billions of genotypes in
academic and industrial settings. Prior to joining the Broad, Dr. Kuruvilla's
research focused on the elucidation of the mechanism of action of rapamycin.
In addition to his scientific achievements, Dr. Kuruvilla has been a
practicing physician and cared for adult and pediatric patients suffering from
a variety of hematologic, oncologic and autoimmune disorders at the Brigham &
Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital Boston, the Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Massachusetts
General Hospital.

Dr. Kuruvilla received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Caltech, his
master's degree in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, his
Ph.D. in chemistry and chemical biology from Harvard University and his M.D.
from Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency at the Brigham &
Women's Hospital and his fellowship in transfusion medicine at Harvard Medical
School.

"With his very strong scientific and clinical background, Finny will
strengthen our team in translational medicine and help identify the next
generation of innovative companies for Clarus to invest in," said Dr.
Galakatos.

About Clarus Ventures

Clarus Ventures is a life sciences venture capital firm founded by a team of
accomplished investment professionals with extensive and complementary
industry backgrounds which have enabled them to establish a long history of
success in creating value. Their deep relationships with world thought leaders
and decision makers allow this team to identify unique investment
opportunities and shepherd them to maturity. Clarus augments its core
expertise of investing in biopharmaceuticals and medical technology companies
with the deep and diverse expertise of the team in research and development,
commercialization, business development and operations management at the
global level. Clarus is based in Cambridge, Mass. and San Francisco, Calif.
and presently manages over $1.2 billion across two life-sciences dedicated
funds.

For additional information on Clarus Ventures, please visit
www.clarusventures.com.

CONTACTS:
Nicholas Galakatos, Ph.D., Clarus Ventures, Tel.: 617-949-2223
Tony Russo, Russo Partners, Tel.: 212-845-4251

SOURCE Clarus Ventures, LLC

Nicholas Galakatos, Ph.D., Clarus Ventures, +1-617-949-2223; or Tony Russo,
Russo Partners, +1-212-845-4251