ANN ARBOR, MICH., July 12, 2005 – The National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Velcura Therapeutics®, Inc. a $1.3 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant entitled "Proteomics-based drug discovery in human osteoblasts".

In 2003, Velcura received a $224,000 Phase I SBIR grant "Regulation of the Human Osteoblast Proteome" that provided support for a feasibility study of protein expression patterns in human bone formation. The Phase II grant seeks to develop these initial observations into a means of discovering new drugs that stimulated bone formation. "Our studies into the molecular processes underlying human bone formation have been greatly aided by these SBIR grants," said Dr. Michael W. Long, the President and CEO of Velcura Therapeutics®, Inc. The company is developing an orally available drug (meaning that it can be made as a pill) that both stimulates bone formation and inhibits bone loss aimed at the treatment of osteoporosis and other bone-loss disorders. The drug is expected to enter clinical trials in early 2006

"This SBIR funding will allow us to identify proteins involved in the process of human bone formation both improving our understanding of this process and perhaps identifying targets or biomarkers for bone-disease therapies," said Dr. Long.

During his career, Dr. Long has received more than $13 million in NIH funding for research, which he began as a professor at the University of Michigan. While at the university he and his research team discovered how to grow human bone outside the body. He went on to use this intellectual property to build a university spin-off company, Velcura Therapeutics,® Inc., named for its goal of finding "swift cures" (Latin: Velocitas Cura) for those suffering from bone diseases.

About Velcura Therapeutics®, Inc.

Velcura Therapeutics® is a biotech company focused on developing drugs that stimulate bone formation. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Velcura grows human bone outside the body and analyzes this process to develop novel therapies for osteoporosis and other bone diseases. The company received $3.3 million in funding from the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor in 2002 and, with its most recent SBIR grant, more than $3.8 million from the National Institutes of Health.