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Sangart Closes Preferred Stock Private Placement

SAN DIEGO, CA (September 5, 2003) – Sangart, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing oxygen transport agents, announced today the closing of a Preferred Stock private placement financing of $12 million. In addition, the investors are being granted an option to purchase an additional $12 million on the same terms. Participants in the round of financing include an institutional investor as well as existing investors Gambro AB, Life Equity Sweden KB and Odin Forvaltning AS.

The capital raised will be used to further the progress of Sangart's lead product candidate, Hemospan® (MP4), through clinical trials.

Robert M. Winslow, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Sangart, commented: "This is a significant achievement. We very much appreciate the confidence demonstrated by our investors and the opportunity that this funding provides to build upon our momentum."

New directors joining Sangart's Board include: Edward J. Kimball, M.D., James Kushner, M.D., H.E. Scruggs and Anders Wiklund. David Perez, Curtis Scribner, M.D., M.B.A. and Robert Winslow, M.D. will continue as Directors.

About Hemospan®

Hemospan is a product that is designed to serve as an alternative for red blood cell transfusions. Hemospan represents a revolutionary approach in oxygen transport technology and is distinct from blood substitute products that have languished in decades-old clinical research. Sangart's products are chemically modified hemoglobin solutions prepared from outdated human blood, designed specifically to maximize oxygen transport to tissues that need it most.

About Sangart

Sangart is a private biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of medical products designed for use as alternatives to blood transfusions. The products are chemically modified hemoglobin solutions prepared from outdated human blood, designed specifically to transport oxygen in a cell-free solution. founded in 1998 by Dr. Robert M. Winslow to develop and commercialize products designed for use as alternatives to blood transfusions. Dr. Winslow has more than 30 years of experience in the study of hemoglobin and hemoglobin-based blood substitutes, and is a world-renowned authority in the field of "blood substitutes".

Dr. Robert Winslow, a world-renowned authority in the field of oxygen transport, founded Sangart in 1998. In the two decades prior to founding Sangart, Dr. Winslow and his colleagues studied and defined mechanisms of oxygen transport by cell-free hemoglobin solutions, funded by competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. The counterintuitive discoveries by Dr. Winslow's group on the effective action of oxygen transport agents have been patented and published in numerous scientific articles. From this experience, Sangart designed its lead product, Hemospan, using unique polyethylene glycol conjugation to create a hemoglobin-based product that is intended to serve as an alternative to donated blood.

The key breakthroughs in the development of Hemospan were the understanding of the mechanisms of vasoconstriction and the development of simplified production methods that make the final product commercially viable. These breakthroughs laid the groundwork for Sangart's business concept of developing cost-effective oxygen carriers that can be used in lieu of transfused red blood cells during episodes of temporary blood loss, such as surgery or trauma.

CONTACTS: Richard Konrad
Director of Marketing
Sangart, Inc.
858.455.0966
or
Jill Meleski (investor)/ Greg Tiberend (media)
The Ruth Group
646.536.7032 / 646.536.7005

To learn more about Sangart or Hemospan®, please visit www.sangart.com