Intrinsic Therapeutics, Inc. Raises $25 Million in Venture Capital Financing

WILMINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2003--Intrinsic Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held company, announced today that it has completed a Series C financing of $25 million to support the clinical development and commercialization of its platform intervertebral disc repair technologies. Sprout Group led the investment, with previous investors New Enterprise Associates and Spray Venture Partners also participating in the round.

"These funds will help to accelerate Intrinsic Therapeutics' drive to take a leadership position in this new and exciting field of spine care," commented Greg Lambrecht, Intrinsic Therapeutics' President and CEO. "Sprout Group's investment and experience will help us to be first to market with an array of devices that enable surgeons to repair or replace important, soft-tissue structures of the disc. Intrinsic's proprietary technologies could provide dramatically improved clinical outcomes for the millions of people who suffer from back pain and sciatica worldwide."

"Intrinsic Therapeutics' innovative treatment solution is simple and elegant and does not require surgeons to significantly alter the way they currently perform discectomies," commented Jeani Delagardelle, General Partner of The Sprout Group. "We estimate that the market for spine technologies, including discectomies, will grow at a compounded annual rate of 25 percent through 2005. The combination of a large and rapidly growing market and the potential to create a new standard of care makes this a very attractive investment opportunity." Jeani Delagardelle has been appointed to Intrinsic's board of directors, joining Ryan Drant of New Enterprise Associates, Kevin Connors of Spray Venture Partners, and Josh Makower, MD, founder and Chief Technology Officer of TransVascular, Inc.

"NEA's additional investment reflects our confidence in Greg and the Intrinsic management team," commented NEA Partner Ryan Drant. "We believe that Intrinsic's promising technology addresses a large market and most importantly has the potential to benefit many patients suffering from debilitating spinal disorders."

About the Sprout Group
The Sprout Group is one of the oldest and largest venture capital firms in the U.S. Since 1969, Sprout has helped finance more than 300 companies with combined sales exceeding $40 billion and currently manages $3 billion in committed capital. With offices in Menlo Park and New York, Sprout focuses on helping to grow companies in the healthcare technology and information technology sectors. Sprout's healthcare team is actively investing in medical devices, biopharmaceutical, life sciences tools and life sciences software companies at all stages of growth. Representative examples include: Adolor, Affymax, Deltagen, Focus Technologies, NxStage Medical, Pathology Partners, Phase Forward, Picoliter, Prometheus, Spiration, Spotfire, Tripath, Vasca and Visiogen. Sprout Group is a venture capital affiliate of Credit Suisse First Boston. For further information on the Sprout Group, please visit our web site at http://www.sproutgroup.com.

About NEA
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm investing in healthcare and information technology companies. Practicing classic venture capital for 25 years, NEA focuses on early stage investments, playing an active role in assisting management to build companies of lasting value. With $5 billion under management, NEA's experienced management team has invested in over 500 companies, of which more than 135 have gone public and more than 150 have been acquired. NEA has offices in Baltimore, Maryland, Reston, Virginia, and Menlo Park, California. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.

About Spray
Spray Venture Partners was Intrinsic's investor at formation in 1999. Working with clinicians and technologists on the front lines of patient care, Spray forms and provides capital and management expertise to emerging medical technology companies focused in Cardiology, Orthopedics, Neurovascular, Urology, Gynecology and Gastro/Intestinal markets. Based in Boston, Spray invests throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.spraypartners.com.

About Intrinsic Therapeutics
Intrinsic Therapeutics, Inc., formerly Intrinsic Orthopedics, Inc., based in Woburn, MA, is a medical device company focused on developing innovative therapies that address the spine market's many unmet clinical needs. The company's first product is a revolutionary spinal implant that is being developed to treat the most common causes of sciatica and low back pain.

For more information please contact:
Intrinsic Therapeutics
Scott LeBlanc, Director of Finance
(781) 932-0222
finance@intrinsic-therapeutics.com
or
Burns McClellan for The Sprout Group
Justin Jackson, (212) 213-0006