CuraGen Corporation (CRGN)

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CuraGen Sells Ownership of Belinostat to TopoTarget A/S
- CuraGen to receive approximately $45 million in cash, stock and future milestone payments -
- Provides updated financial guidance for 2008 -
- Conference call to be hosted today at 9:00 a.m. EDT -

BRANFORD, Conn., April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CuraGen Corporation (Nasdaq: CRGN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it has sold its ownership in belinostat, a Phase I/II histone deacetylase inhibitor, to TopoTarget A/S (Copenhagen Stock Exchange: TOPO) for approximately $39 million upfront in a combination of cash and stock. CuraGen will receive $26 million in cash and 5 million shares of TopoTarget common stock, currently valued at approximately $13 million, and $6 million in potential commercial milestone payments related to future net sales and sublicenses of belinostat. CuraGen will no longer have any funding requirements for belinostat as TopoTarget will immediately assume all financial and operational responsibility for the ongoing clinical development.

'CuraGen is working to create and unlock value within our portfolio while providing a strong and clear risk / reward profile for our investors. After a thorough review of our current strategic options, we feel the most effective use of our resources and best potential value creation opportunity for shareholders is based on CR011-vcMMAE, our un-partnered antibody-drug conjugate, currently in Phase II for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma and moving toward Phase II in metastatic breast cancer. We believe that today's deal represents a great opportunity for CuraGen, and its shareholders, by further strengthening our balance sheet by adding close to $45 million this year in cash and investments and from the reduction in anticipated cash use during 2008,' commented Dr. Timothy Shannon, President and Chief Executive Officer of CuraGen.

CuraGen also provided today updated 2008 financial guidance. As a result of this transaction, CuraGen expects to end 2008 with approximately $135 million in cash and investments compared to the previously provided guidance of approximately $90 million. During the second half of 2008, CuraGen anticipates using approximately $6 to $8 million of cash and investments to fund operations.

Dr. Shannon further commented, 'With CR011-vcMMAE showing promise in areas of substantial unmet need, we will evaluate opportunities to create additional value from this program over the course of the year, including strategic partnerships. With approximately $145 million in cash and investments today and an exciting product in Phase II with significant potential upside, we believe CuraGen is in an excellent position of having meaningful resources on hand, a low cash burn and the flexibility to pursue potential business development opportunities for novel products that we are seeing in the marketplace.'

'This transaction also allows TopoTarget to focus on belinostat as it potentially moves into a Phase III trial in patients with PTCL in the second half of 2008,' said Dr. Shannon. 'They have been good partners and we wish them success with the continued development of the product.'

Conference Call Details and Dial-in Information

Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Time: 9:00 a.m. EDT
Dial-in: 877-272-5391 (domestic)
706-758-4315 (international)
Passcode: 44717174
Webcast: Access to the live webcast is available at
http://www.curagen.com .


A replay of the conference call will be available starting at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 through Thursday, May 22, 2008 by dialing 800-642-1687 (domestic) or 706-645-9291 (international). The passcode for the replay is 44717174. An archive of the webcast will be available for 30 days at http://www.curagen.com .