BiPar Sciences Raises $20 Million to Advance Clinical Programs

BRISBANE, Calif., Jan. 12, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BiPar Sciences, Inc., a
privately held biopharmaceutical company developing PARP inhibitors as novel
cancer therapies, announced today it has raised $20 million from a combination
of equity capital and venture debt financing, more than doubling BiPar's cash
resources. Participating in the round were existing equity investors Domain
Associates, Canaan Partners, Vulcan Capital, PolyTechnos Venture-Partners, Asset
Management Company and Quantum Technology Partners, along with venture-debt
lender Lighthouse Capital Partners.

"We are excited at the continued commitment from all of our existing investors
in BiPar and in the potential of PARP inhibitors as an important new therapeutic
modality in cancer," said Hoyoung Huh, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief
executive officer of BiPar Sciences. "This financing will allow us to progress
our lead program, BSI-201, towards Phase 3 registrational trials for breast
cancer in 2009."

Recently, BiPar announced positive interim safety data from an ongoing Phase 2
clinical trial of the company's PARP inhibitor, BSI-201, in combination with
chemotherapy in patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).
The company also presented gene expression data that confirmed significant
upregulation of PARP in the tumors of the first 50 patients enrolled in the
Phase 2 trial. Results were presented at the recent annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio
Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) in December 2008.

About BiPar Sciences and BSI-201

BiPar Sciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on
DNA repair using Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. PARP inhibitors
represent a new, targeted approach to treating many types of cancers. By
preventing cancer cells from repairing their own DNA, PARP inhibitors ultimately
cause cancer cell death. The company's lead product candidate is BSI-201, a
potential first-in-class and best-in-class PARP inhibitor currently being
studied in Phase 2 testing for metastatic triple negative breast cancer, ovarian
cancer and other malignancies. The company also has two additional compounds in
pre-clinical development, BSI-401, a follow-on PARP inhibitor candidate being
investigated as an oral therapy for pancreatic cancer and BSI-302, a novel
anti-tubulin therapy. BiPar Sciences is privately held with headquarters in
Brisbane, California. For more information, please visit www.biparsciences.com.

About Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)

When patients are diagnosed with breast cancer, their tumors are routinely
tested for and classified based on the presence of estrogen, progesterone, and
HER2 receptors. Commonly used breast cancer therapies, such as tamoxifen and
Herceptin(r), target these receptors. However, up to 20 percent of all breast
cancers are negative for all three receptors, thus giving rise to the term
"triple negative breast cancer (TNBC)."

TNBC is a difficult-to-treat cancer subtype that does not have an approved
standard-of-care and does not respond to current hormone-based and targeted
therapies. TNBC is a very aggressive cancer, with higher rates of metastases and
poorer survival rates than other breast cancer subtypes. The prevalence of the
TNBC subtype is higher in younger and African-American women.

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