CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — July 28, 2004 – Diffusion Pharmaceuticals LLC, a privately held early-stage pharmaceutical company discovering and developing novel small-molecule therapeutics to treat hypoxia (oxygen deprivation at the cellular level), today announced that it has completed a $2.1 million private equity round. These proceeds, along with a $1.2 million grant (N00014-04-C-0146) recently awarded to the Company from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), will be used to support the preclinical development of trans sodium crocetinate (TSC), its lead compound.

“We are grateful for our investors’ confidence in the quality of our science and our ability to move a novel drug through the complex FDA approval process,” said David G. Kalergis, JD/MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Diffusion Pharmaceuticals LLC. “Our priority is developing TSC for critical unmet medical needs, including hemorrhagic shock in wounded war fighters. We view our success in raising this capital as an endorsement of our novel technology, innovative approach, and our research and management team. Combined with our other resources, it will help move TSC into first-in-human clinical trials in 2005,” he continued.

Diffusion also announced that it plans to open another round of equity financing in early 2005 to raise a minimum of $1 million. According to Kalergis, “This additional funding coupled with up to $4.2 million pending with the United States military will be used both to further the development of TSC for use in humans and to support on-going research into other preclinical drug candidates targeting unmet medical needs.”

Of the pending $4.2 million in military funding, $1 million represents a line item currently in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 proposed by Senator John Warner, R-Va., and recently approved by the full Congress. If the bill is approved by President Bush, this funding will be available to the Company in late 2004.

About Diffusion Pharmaceuticals
Diffusion Pharmaceuticals is a drug discovery and development company that owns a platform technology of proprietary small molecules, trans bipolar carotenoids or TBC molecules, that treat hypoxia (oxygen deprivation at the cellular level). The company’s lead drug, trans sodium crocetinate or TSC, is currently in pre-clinical development and is being tested by distinguished principal investigators in laboratories across the country for medical indications including severe blood loss, brain trauma, stroke, heart attack and other conditions. More than 10 years of animal testing has proven that TSC significantly increases the rate of oxygen delivery to hypoxic tissues, extending life and reducing physiological damage. The company, which is privately held, is located in Charlottesville, Virginia, an emerging biotech and drug development center. For more information, visit www.diffusionpharma.com.