Charlottesville, VA — October 29, 2004 —Diffusion Pharmaceuticals LLC, a pharmaceutical company which discovers and develops novel small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of oxygen deficiency in tissues, today announced its selection as the winner of the Virginia’s Technology Capital Access Forum’s (VTCAF) business plan competition, receiving the $10,000 cash prize sponsored by Third Security, LLC. The conference, organized and hosted jointly by Virginia Tech and the NewVa Corridor Technology Council (NCTC) and held at the Roanoke Event and Conference Center on Thursday morning, aimed to bring the best plans out of the mid-Atlantic region.

Participants saw ten teams’ presentations as they pitched their business plans to a panel of seasoned venture capitalists and a live audience of more than 100 curious entrepreneurs and investors, representing over $3 billion dollars in private, institutional and venture capital. The judging panel was comprised of a team of high profile venture capitalists and institutional investors, including Scott Graeff, Principal, Gryphon Capital Partners, LLC; Marsh Marshall, Managing Partner, Ecentury Capital; Tom Bain, Principal, Columbia Capital; and Brian Giblin, Business Development Manager, Edison Venture Group.

Thirty nine business plans were received from as far away as Africa, and Diffusion Pharmaceuticals LLC was selected as the winner of the Capital Access Forum Business Plan Contest. “We choose to award the prize to Diffusion Pharmaceuticals because of the clarity and focus that they demonstrated throughout,” said Rob Patzig, Senior Managing Director at Third Security LLC. “They provided a clear, compelling description of their technology, its commercialization path and its potential markets.”

“Of course we’re happy to have the bragging rights and $10,000 prize, but we’re equally happy about the confidence expressed by seasoned entrepreneurs and investors in the promise of our novel drugs as we move them into human clinical trials,” said David Kalergis, JD/MBA, Diffusion’s Chief Executive Officer.

About Diffusion Pharmaceuticals
Diffusion Pharmaceuticals LLC is a drug discovery and development company that owns a platform technology of patented small molecules which treat serious medical conditions by increasing tissue oxygenation. Human clinical trials for the Company’s lead molecule trans sodium crocetinate (TSC) are targeted for 2005 for treatment of hemorrhagic shock. The company’s pipeline drugs, known as trans bipolar carotenoid or TBC molecules, are currently in the pre-clinical stage in laboratories across the country for the treatment of severe blood loss, brain trauma, ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, and other conditions characterized by oxygen deprivation at the cellular level. Diffusion Pharmaceuticals, which is privately held, is located in Charlottesville, Virginia, an emerging biotech and drug development center. For more, visit www.diffusionpharma.com.