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BIOACTOR B.V. closes Series A financing round to fund growth strategy

ICOS Capital leads a 2M Euro investment, together with Nedermaas Ventures and Limburg Ventures in health ingredients company BioActor to accelerate the market introduction of its product pipeline.

Maastricht, Netherlands, July 25, 2011

BIOACTOR B.V. announced today that ICOS Capital, Nedermaas Ventures and Limburg Ventures invested 2M Euro in a Series A financing round in which also the CEO & founder of the company participated. The money will be used (i) to launch its first product BONOLIVE, a unique and innovative bone health ingredient and (ii) to finance clinical validation studies for other products in the pipeline.

BioActor develops proprietary health ingredients for use in functional foods, medical nutrition and dietary supplements. All these ingredients address chronic health concerns, such as diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, that would benefit from preventative measures through the diet. BioActor’s product development strategy relies on three simple tenets: a new health ingredient must be based on a patentable scientific discovery; it must be food grade from a natural and renewable source; and its health effect must be clinically proven. BioActor’s first product, BONOLIVE, a first in class bone health ingredient that is clinically proven to stimulate bone producing cells, is a great example of this strategy and will be launched in the USA this year.

BioActor successfully implemented its product development strategy by establishing alliances with top nutrition research institutes (e.g. INRA, CSIC, Maastricht University, UCL, Ghent University) and by establishing production partnerships with industrial players to shorten the path to market.

Hans van der Saag, CEO & founder explains: “We are delighted with the new investor base. It will enable the company to accelerate its activities and execute its go-to-market strategy. Moreover, our new operations center on the Maastricht Health Campus will allow us to further intensify our collaboration with Maastricht University (NUTRIM) and the Maastricht University Medical Center.”

Peter van Gelderen, Partner at ICOS Capital adds: “We identified this company early on and particularly liked its collaborative business model, creating networks with all players in the value chain. We are happy to have initiated a strong consortium of investors with complementary expertise and networks to support BioActor's growth strategy”.

Marcel Kloosterman, investment manager of Limburg Ventures, is impressed by the effective inroads made by Bioactor with applications for health claims at regulatory authorities for its portfolio of products, and expects that the CEO will be able to make a first announcement on this topic very soon.

Jeffrey Lutje Spelberg, investment manager of Nedermaas Ventures, sees BioActor as a perfect match with the world-class nutrition science base at the Maastricht Health Campus. He adds: “BioActor fills the application gap between scientific discoveries and the need for real products”.

Hans van der Saag, CEO concludes that the additional cash will help the company to realize its mission of selling ‘Ingredients for Life’ that meet the needs of the nutrition industry and the public at large.

About BioActor

BioActor B.V., headquartered at the Maastricht Health Campus, is a product development company that develops and supplies proprietary biologically active ingredients to the nutrition & healthcare industry. The company focuses on the development of innovative health ingredients that address the metabolic syndrome and ageing related chronic health conditions. The goal is to provide the nutrition & healthcare industry with science--‐based innovations that confer long--‐term health benefits to the consumer. The Company’ management consists of Hans van der Saag, CEO and Sam Possemiers, Research Director. Rob Minnee, currently Business Development Director, will change to a non--‐executive role of Strategic Marketing Advisor in the next months.

For further information, see www.bio--‐actor.com or contact Hans van der Saag, CEO, at BioActor on + 31 611734108 or +32 475 911760, or mail to: hans.vandersaag@bioactor.com

About Icos Capital

Icos Capital is an independent growth capital investment firm that invests in European cleantech companies with leading technology propositions in the growth and expansion phase. The company’s combination of entrepreneurial experience, its growth capital, investment track record, and extensive relationships with international industry professionals has established the firm as a leading strategic partner in the cleantech industry. Icos Capital works in a close strategic partnership with CSM, BAM and Imtech, three major corporations that see value in being at the forefront of the development and dissemination of cleantech innovations, both for capital gains and to substantiate corporate social responsibility objectives.

For more information on this investment and/or on Icos Capital, see www.icoscapital.com or contact Dr. Peter van Gelderen, Partner at Icos Capital, on +31 6 28229932 or pvg@icoscapital.com

About Nedermaas Ventures

Nedermaas Ventures is a regional venture capital fund and a subidiary entity of the Limburg Development and Investment Company LIOF. The fund focuses on seed investment opportunities across a broad spectrum of technology fields such as life sciences, biotechology, medical devices, agro/food and chemistry.

For more information on this investment and/or on Nedermaas Ventures, see www.nedermaasventures.nl or contact Dr. Jeffrey Lutje Spelberg, Investment Manager at Nedermaas Ventures, on +31 43 3280280 or jlutjespelberg@liof.nl

About Limburg Ventures

Limburg Ventures is a regional venture capital fund, set up by DSM Nederland and the Limburg Development and Investment Company LIOF. It invests in promising companies (ranging from startups to stock listed) having breakthrough potential, setting up at the Chemelot Campus in Geleen or the Biopartner Center in Maastricht. The focus is on companies, which will benefit from and strengthen the clusters of advanced materials, biomaterials and biomedical devices, chemistry and life sciences. Limburg Ventures currently has 18 companies in its portfolio, which consists of companies from Dutch, but also British, German, Belgian and French origin.

For more information on this investment and/or on Limburg Ventures, see www.limburgventures.comor contact Dr. Marcel Kloosterman, Investment Manager at Limburg Ventures, on +31 6 51577416 or marcel.kloosterman@limburgventures.com