Slater Technology Fund Backs Sentient Bioscience in Collaboration with Prominent Clinical and Scientific Co-founders

Providence-based venture looks to capitalize on growing market for embolization therapies and site-specific drug delivery

Providence, R.I., September 8, 2009 – The Slater Technology Fund today announced today that it has committed $250,000 in funding to Providence-based biotech startup Sentient Bioscience, a new venture developing proprietary technology for embolization therapy and site-specific drug delivery to treat cancer and other serious medical conditions. The Slater investment is an inception-stage financing aimed at establishing a new entrant in a field that is deriving significant clinical benefit from less invasive therapeutic interventions and more highly targeted drug delivery.

Sentient co-founders include prominent clinicians and researchers with considerable experience in the field, including:

• Timothy P. Murphy, M.D., an interventional radiologist with academic appointment in the Department of Diagnostic Imaging at Brown Medical School and a clinical appointment at Rhode Island Hospital. Dr. Murphy is president-elect of the Society for Interventional Radiology and is a leading recipient of NIH-sponsored research in the field of interventional radiology;

• Jean-Francois H. Geschwind, M.D., Professor of Radiology, Surgery and Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, Director of the Cardiovascular Diagnostic Laboratory and Chief of the Division of Interventional Radiology at Johns Hopkins; and

• Edith Mathiowitz, Ph.D., Professor of Medical Science and Engineering in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biotechnology at Brown University. Dr. Mathiowitz previously co-founded Slater-backed venture Spherics, Inc., a late 1990’s spin-out from Brown that went on to raise in excess of $50 million in venture capital and corporate funding.

Embolization therapy involves non-surgical, minimally invasive procedures designed to limit blood supply to both benign and cancerous tumors. Materials used to block such blood supply, known as embolics, also serve to deliver drugs to tumors in a more targeted manner compared with systemic administration. Sentient is developing novel polymer particles and methods designed to work alone or in combination with drugs and biologics developed by pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

“Sentient is bringing together world-class polymer chemistry capabilities with recognized leaders in interventional radiology,” said Richard G. Horan, Senior Managing Director of the Slater Technology Fund. “The company is setting the stage for one of the more powerful combinations in life science startups – biomedical engineers collaborating directly with clinical researchers to accelerate the transfer of leading-edge technologies from the laboratory to the patient.”

”We are very grateful for the support from the Slater Technology Fund in launching this new venture,” said co-founder Timothy P. Murphy, MD. “Our mission is to improve outcomes for individuals with benign and cancerous tumors through innovative products and techniques for the interventional radiology clinician. In so doing, we hope to build upon the outstanding reputation for clinical and research excellence which has been established here in Rhode Island.”

According to John J. Cronan, MD, FACR, Chairman of the Department of Diagnostic Imaging at Brown University School of Medicine, “Dr. Murphy has played an integral role in the development of our clinical and research activities in interventional radiology. The field has been a highly fertile area for translating innovative research into commercial development. We applaud the efforts of Dr. Murphy and his collaborators in this new venture and expect them to make important contributions to the field.”

About the Department of Diagnostic Imaging at Brown University School of Medicine
With nearly 60 faculty, the Department of Diagnostic Imaging at Brown University School of Medicine provides services in four of the Medical School’s affiliated hospitals with over 500,000 imaging examinations performed annually. The department’s residency program, which currently enrolls 28 residents and graduates seven residents every year, was ranked number one in the country in 2008 by the American Board of Radiology. A fellowship is offered in vascular and interventional radiology. Faculty members are engaged in a wide range of research programs, including studies on cancer imaging and brain and vascular imaging. For more information, visit http://bms.brown.edu/.

About Slater Technology Fund
The Slater Technology Fund is a state-backed venture capital fund that invests in new ventures committed to basing and building their businesses in Rhode Island. Slater focuses its resources on the support of entrepreneurs who have the vision, leadership and commitment to build substantial commercial enterprises. Slater typically invests at the inception stage in the development of a new venture, often based upon ideas and technologies originating in academic institutions and/or government research laboratories located within the region. In most cases, investments are premised upon the possibility of raising substantial follow-on financing, from venture capital investors or from strategic partners, with a view toward accelerating the generation of significant numbers of high-value, high-wage jobs over the intermediate to longer-term. For more information, visit www.slaterfund.com.

For More Information:

Laura Nelson or Kaycee Roberts
SVM Public Relations
(401) 490-9700
laura.nelson@svmpr.com
kaycee.roberts@svmpr.com