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TOKYO

Taiyo Pacific Partners announced today that it has accumulated in excess of 5% in Peptidream, Inc. (4587) to become Peptidream’s second largest institutional shareholder. Peptidream aspires to be a world leader in the discovery and development of novel highly functional peptide therapeutics to address unmet medical needs and improve the quality of life of patients worldwide. Taiyo Pacific Partners is a pioneer of friendly engagement investing in Japan and has been proactively working with senior management at its portfolio companies to enhance shareholder value for over 11 years.

Brian K. Heywood, Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner of Taiyo Pacific Partners, said, “Peptidream’s innovation in peptide development is a very exciting breakthrough which combines the advantages of both traditional small molecule medicines with those of more expensive antibody pharmaceuticals. We strongly believe they will unlock tremendous value for patients as well as shareholders as they work with the top drug makers around the world in this growing field.”

Michael A. King, Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner of Taiyo Pacific Partners, said, “Unlike many young firms in the pharmaceutical space, we were impressed by management’s ability to create an upfront fee business model which keeps the firm profitable even during this ramp up period of new clients and projects. This speaks to the strength and effectiveness of Peptidream’s unique and well patented “peptide discovery platform system” which is winning high acclaim in the industry for this growing category of therapeutics.”

President & CEO Kiichi Kubota commented, “We aim to become not only a leader in our field of peptide-based therapeutics globally, but also a leader in value creation through innovation for our shareholders with a sustainable high ROE. I am excited to have a shareholder like Taiyo Pacific Partners with long term vision that takes the time to understand our complex technology and is willing to grow with our business and offer support.”

Taiyo Pacific Partners is one of the largest engagement funds in Japan with over $2.4 billion dollars invested in publicly-listed Japanese small- and mid-cap companies. The firm has a diverse and synergistic investment team of 20 bi-lingual professionals with over 320 combined years of Asia-related work experience. Since its founding in 2003, Taiyo Pacific Partners has attracted assets from some of the largest and most widely known institutions in the world including public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and leading endowments in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.