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LINGUAGEN CORP. ANNOUNCES $10.2 MILLION SERIES A FINANCING

Cranbury, N.J., November 13, 2003 - Linguagen Corp. (www.linguagen.com), a leader in the development of ingredients used to improve the taste of food, beverages, and pharmaceutical products, today announced a commitment of $10.2 million in new equity financing. Participating in the first round financing were NJTC Venture Fund SBIC, L.P, Cargill Ventures, Danisco Venture A/S (Danisco A/S), DuPont Ventures, Aperture Venture Partners LLC, and RK Ventures Group, LLC.

The funding will be used to expand Linguagen's taste receptor research for solving problems associated with bitterness, too much salt, and too much sugar, and to commercialize products and systems that are developed. The participation of three of the world's leading food ingredients companies in Cargill, Danisco, and DuPont will bring not just financial resources to the effort but also greater insight into trends and needs of the food industry.

"We are pleased at the high level of confidence our investors have shown in Linguagen's research and strategic plan for applying our technology in the emerging field of taste signaling," said Shawn M. Marcell, Linguagen's COO and acting CEO. "The investor syndicate includes well-known players in the venture capital, food, and pharmaceutical industries, and we are pleased to have their collective experience as we move the company forward into its next phase of growth. We plan to use this funding to aggressively develop our research and to meet the needs of our expanding customer base."

Concurrent with this financing, Robert Chefitz, a General Partner of NJTC Venture Fund, SBIC, L.P., David Patchen, a Managing Director of Cargill Ventures, and Lars Dybkjaer, Investment Director with Danisco Venture A/S will join Mr. Marcell as members of Linguagen's Board of Directors.

Linguagen uses innovative, proprietary biotechnology to discover natural ingredients that improve the flavor of pharmaceuticals and the flavors and health values of foods and beverages. Traditionally bitterness is masked by adding large quantities of sugar, salt, flavorings, or coating agents. Linguagen has developed technology to identify compounds that selectively eliminate the perception of bitterness so that products would require less sugar, salt, or flavorings, resulting in products that taste better and are healthier. The Company's first product, AMP, has recently completed GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) regulatory approval process in the U.S. for use in coffee and tea beverages, artificial sweeteners, chewing gum, salty snack foods, salt substitutes, and soup products and is currently being evaluated by a number of companies for use in their products. Linguagen's science is also being applied to discover superior natural sugar and salt substitutes and to enhance the sweetness of natural sugar.

About Redpoint Bio, formerly Linguagen
Redpoint Bio Corporation (www.redpointbio.com) is a privately held company located in Cranbury, N.J., and holds a variety of patents in the field of taste. The company researches, discovers, develops, and commercializes breakthrough products that improve the palatability of oral medicines and enhance the flavor and nutritional value of foods and beverages, including solutions to the problems of bitterness, excess sugar, and excess salt.

About Cargill Ventures
Cargill Ventures (www.cargillventures.com) invests in emerging technology companies that enable commerce, innovation and efficiencies and help Cargill be a global leader in providing goods and services for life, health and growth. Cargill Ventures maintains offices in San Mateo, CA, and Minneapolis, MN. It is a business unit of Cargill, Incorporated (www.cargill.com), an international marketer, processor and distributor of agricultural, food, financial and industrial products and services with 98,000 employees in 61 countries. The company provides distinctive customer solutions in supply chain management, food applications, and health and nutrition.

About NJTC Venture Fund
NJTC Venture Fund (www.njtcv.com) is an early stage venture capital fund investing in promising New Jersey-based companies. Investments will span a variety of industries, mirroring the state's indigenous strengths including telecommunications, software, pharmaceutical, financial services and electronics. NJTC Venture Fund will initially invest up to $1.5M with sufficient capital reserved for follow-on investment.

About Danisco Venture
Danisco Venture (www.danisco.com/venture) is a corporate venture unit within Danisco A/S - one of the world's largest producers of ingredients for the food and feed industry. Danisco Venture focuses on creating significant value growth by investing in total DKK 500 million (approx. EUR 67 million) in ventures with high value-added products, services or technology platforms, which are relevant to Danisco.

About DuPont Ventures
DuPont Ventures (www.ventures.dupont.com), based in Wilmington, Delaware, creates new business options for DuPont by investing in and partnering with entrepreneurial companies that have novel technologies. DuPont (www.dupont.com) is a science company with a mission of sustainable growth. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by solving problems and creating solutions that make people's lives better, safer and easier. Operating in more than 70 countries, the company offers a wide range of products and services to markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel.

 

  Redpoint Bio