SCHLIEREN, Switzerland, July 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

• Cytos Biotechnology Ltd substantially increases its cash by raising CHF 33.58 million through equity and debt
• Board of Directors further strengthened by the nomination of Dr. Christian Itin, former President and CEO of Micromet Inc., as a Non-Executive Director
• Large global Phase IIb program with CYT003 in allergic asthma planned to start in 2H12

Cytos Biotechnology Ltd ("Cytos" or the "Company") announced today financial results and business highlights for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.

Highlights

During the first half of 2012 the Company raised CHF 33.58 million through equity and debt whereas CHF 23.75 million was provided as equity and CHF 6.625 million was provided in the form of convertible loan notes - both from an international syndicate of investors which include venBio, Abingworth, Aisling Capital and Amgen. Furthermore, CHF 3.20 million in the form of equity was raised through a rights offering to existing shareholders. Cytos intends to use the proceeds primarily to conduct a large global phase IIb study in allergic asthma with CYT003.

In conjunction with the capital raise, Joseph Anderson (Abingworth), John Berriman (Deputy Chairman of Algeta), Paul Brooke (venBio), Kurt von Emster (venBio) and Arthur Krieg (CEO of RaNA Therapeutics), who were nominated and elected to the board of directors on April 20, 2012, started their term of office on May 14, 2012. The new directors bring significant additional life science experience to the Company.

In May 2012, the Company announced the nomination of Dr. Christian Itin to its Board as a Non-executive Director. The Board of Directors will propose to the Company's shareholders the election of Dr. Itin as member of the Board at the next general meeting. Dr. Itin is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Micromet Inc., a formerly Nasdaq listed biopharmaceutical company which was acquired in March 2012 by Amgen, Inc. for USD 1.16 billion in cash. He spent 13 years with Micromet in a number of senior management roles, becoming CEO in 2004.

The detailed Q2 Financial Report can be downloaded at http://www.cytos.com/userfiles/file/Cytos_Q2_2012_E.pdf

About Cytos Biotechnology Ltd

Cytos Biotechnology Ltd is a Swiss public biotechnology company that specializes in the development and commercialization of a new class of biopharmaceutical products - the Immunodrugs™. Immunodrugs™ are intended for use in the treatment and prevention of common chronic diseases, which afflict millions of people worldwide. Immunodrugs™ are designed to instruct the patient's immune system to produce the desired therapeutic antibody or T cell responses that modulate chronic disease processes. Cytos' Immunodrug™ candidates are being developed both in-house and together with Novartis, Pfizer and Pfizer Animal Health. Founded in 1995 as a spinoff from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, the Company is located in Schlieren (Zurich). Cytos Biotechnology Ltd is listed according to the Main Standard on the SIX Swiss Exchange Ltd under the symbol CYTN.

This foregoing press release may contain forward-looking statements that include words or phrases such as "are intended for", "are designed to", or other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of significant uncertainties, including scientific, business, economic and financial factors, and therefore actual results may differ significantly from those presented. There can be no assurance that any further therapeutic entities will enter clinical trials, that clinical trial results will be predictive for future results, that therapeutic entities will be the subject of filings for regulatory approval, that any drug candidates will receive marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or equivalent regulatory authorities, or that drugs will be marketed successfully. Against the background of these uncertainties readers should not rely on forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no responsibility to update forward-looking statements or adapt them to future events or developments.

THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER, OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SUBSCRIBE FOR OR PURCHASE ANY SECURITIES TO ANY PERSON IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, OR THE UNITED STATES OR IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION, NOR DOES IT CONSTITUTE A PROSPECTUS WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 652A OR 1156 OF THE SWISS CODE OF OBLIGATIONS OR A LISTING PROSPECTUS PURSUANT TO THE LISTING RULES OF THE SIX SWISS EXCHANGE LTD. ANY DECISION TO PURCHASE ANY SECURITIES REFERRED TO HEREIN SHOULD BE SOLELY BASED ON THE RELEVANT PROSPECTUS. IN ADDITION, THE OFFER AND SALE OF THE SECURITIES REFERRED TO HEREIN HAS NOT BEEN AND WILL NOT BE REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "SECURITIES ACT") OR UNDER THE APPLICABLE SECURITIES LAWS OF AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN. THE SECURITIES REFERRED TO HEREIN MAY NOT BE OFFERED, SOLD OR DELIVERED WITHIN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR AN APPLICABLE EXEMPTION FROM, OR IN A TRANSACTION NOT SUBJECT TO, THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT. SUBJECT TO CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS, THE SECURITIES REFERRED TO HEREIN MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN OR TO, OR FOR THE ACCOUNT OR BENEFIT OF, ANY NATIONAL, RESIDENT OR CITIZEN OF AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN. THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC OFFER OF THE SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.

IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, THIS PRESS RELEASE IS DIRECTED ONLY AT (I) PERSONS WHO HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 19(1) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005 (THE "ORDER"), AND (II) HIGH NET WORTH ENTITIES FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49(2) OF THE ORDER, AND (III) PERSONS TO WHOM IT WOULD OTHERWISE BE LAWFUL TO DISTRIBUTE IT.

IN ADDITION, IF AND TO THE EXTENT THAT THIS PRESS RELEASE IS COMMUNICATED IN, OR THE OFFER OF SECURITIES TO WHICH IT RELATES IS MADE IN, ANY EEA MEMBER STATE THAT HAS IMPLEMENTED DIRECTIVE 2003/71/EC (TOGETHER WITH ANY APPLICABLE IMPLEMENTING MEASURES IN ANY MEMBER STATE, THE "PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE"), THIS PRESS RELEASE AND THE OFFERING OF ANY SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN ARE ONLY ADDRESSED TO AND DIRECTED AT PERSONS IN THAT MEMBER STATE WHO ARE QUALIFIED INVESTORS WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE (OR WHO ARE OTHER PERSONS TO WHOM THE OFFER MAY LAWFULLY BE ADDRESSED) AND MUST NOT BE ACTED ON OR RELIED ON BY OTHER PERSONS IN THAT MEMBER STATE.

For further information please contact:

Cytos Biotechnology Ltd
Harry Welten
Chief Financial Officer
Tel.: +41-44-733-46-46
e-Mail: harry.welten@cytos.com
Website: http://www.cytos.com

SOURCE Cytos Biotechnology Ltd