Tenex Greenhouse Ventures Announces The Start-up of Innovative Life Sciences Fund

Tenex Greenhouse will provide investment, infrastructure, technical and managerial experience to nurture life science companies.

San Francisco - October 8, 2001 - Tenex Greenhouse Ventures, LLC (the Greenhouse) today announced the first closing of its innovative life sciences fund established to support new opportunities which leverage the knowledge and network of the members of Tenex Medical Investors. The investors in this closing were members of Tenex Medical Investors, Sanderling Ventures Partners of Menlo Park, CA. and Diaz & Altschul of New York City. Tenex Medical Investors is the largest life-science angel investor network in the United States. This gives the Greenhouse access to the knowledge base of Tenex Medical Investors, which includes over 180 of the most experienced technical and managerial professionals in the life sciences field. This network will give the Greenhouse a distinct advantage in its mission to identify and support compelling investment opportunities in the emerging field of life sciences.

The Greenhouse is an innovative fund that intends not only to invest in life sciences companies, but also to provide them with access to the key physical infrastructure and investor networks necessary to support their growth. The Greenhouse's association with firms such as Sanderling, a leading venture capital firm, and Diaz & Altschul, a late stage healthcare investment firm, allows portfolio companies to have ease of access to follow-on funding as their organizations grow. In addition, the Greenhouse has designated facilities within the Alexandria Innovation Center-SFO, an Alexandria Real Estate Equities development, located in Burlingame, CA, near the San Francisco Airport. Thus the Greenhouse can offer when appropriate or needed office facilities and access to wet labs in addition to management talent and administrative support for the portfolio companies of the fund. It is anticipated that a number of the portfolio companies will be located outside the Bay Area. The Greenhouse intends to focus its investments in biotechnology, medical devices, and iHealth.

"The distinguishing feature of our fund is the knowledge and experience of our investors. By leveraging this knowledge, in conjunction with our involvement in the Innovation Center, we anticipate that we will attract the highest quality mix of investment opportunities," said Frank Ruderman, Tenex Greenhouse CEO and founding member of Tenex Medical Investors. "We aim to build a portfolio mix that will be diversified in both stage (early stage, corporate spinout, restart), in specific life science market focus, and in location. As our name implies, we nurture life science organizations, adding value to them through their various stages of development."

"We are excited to participate in the Tenex Greenhouse and we believe it is excellently positioned to exploit the investment opportunities that exist in the field of life sciences," commented Fred Middleton, General Partner of Sanderling Ventures. "We were attracted to the Greenhouse because of the unique situation it presents of being able to provide both key physical infrastructure for companies when needed and access to the experience of the Tenex Medical Investors. Through this combination, the Greenhouse will bring technical, managerial, and strategic know-how directly to companies that can most benefit from these advantages, providing them with the critical resources they need to grow into successful life sciences companies.