Dexela Completes £1.66 First Round Funding

Dexela is pleased to announce it has completed an initial investment round of £1.66 million, lead by Close Venture Management (“Close or “CVM”) and including Oxford Technology. Dexela is developing accurate and sensitive 3-D breast imaging methods for the early detection of breast cancer. The investment was made across a number of the Close funds and was part of a funding round carried out alongside Oxford Technology 4 VCT and some private investors. The new funding will be used by Dexela to carry out further development and commercialisation of its imaging technology.

Formed in 2005 to address a significant unmet medical need in the early detection of breast cancer, Dexela is developing low-radiation breast screening techniques that may extend the benefits of breast cancer screening to women under fifty. It is also hoped that Dexela’s innovative techniques will reduce call backs due to false positive results and increase the sensitivity of breast cancer detection, leading to fewer cancers being missed by doctors.

Dexela has a strong team of award winning scientists, as well as a strong portfolio of intellectual property. The team at Dexela has developed world-leading technology for the acquisition, processing and visualisation of high resolution 3-D images of the breast, a type of imaging known as Tomosynthesis. Dexela’s novel approach to Tomosynthesis has significant clinical advantages over competing approaches. Dexela now intends to use this position to secure the leading role in the field and establish collaborative agreements with medical device manufacturers.

Dr. Ed Bullard of Dexela commented: "Analogue screening mammography has been used for breast imaging for the past 40 years, with minimal development in technology, and continued issues with high false positive rates and missed cancers. Even now with the advent of digital 2-D mammography, similar issues persist. Using low dose 3-D breast imaging will, we believe, overcome many of these issues and lead to significant improvements in the detection of breast cancer."

Dr. Andrew Elder of Close, who will serve as a Director of Dexela, added: "We are delighted to be backing such a strong team at Dexela with their impressive IP and expertise. The introduction of digital mammography has changed the market and opened up a wealth of new opportunities for improvements in cancer detection, diagnosis and management - it is developing into a large and very exciting high-growth market. Sales of digital machines are expected to drive the mammography market up to more than £1 billion in 2008 with a 20% annual growth rate over the next five years. This is not only an exciting time for Dexela, but for all involved in reducing the impact of breast cancer. Close Venture Management is very pleased to be associated with such a significant effort towards achieving this objective."

For more information please visit www.closeventures.co.uk or contact:

Andrew Elder
Close Venture Management
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7422 7830

John West / Clemmie Carr
Tavistock Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7920 3150

Notes to Editors

Close Venture Management

Close Venture Management (“CVM”) is one of the longest running and most successful venture capital outlets in the U.K. Formed in 1996 as part of Close Brothers Group plc, CVM currently manages a portfolio of six VCTs, with funds under management of £235 million. In 2005 and 2006 CVM was named Best VCT Provider by Professional Adviser and VCT Manager of the Year at the Growth Company Investor Awards.

The core investment strategy of all of the six funds is to offer investors lower investment risk, whilst providing higher dividend yield and sustained capital growth. CVM’s funding capability ranges from £1 million to £10 million. Larger investments tend to be strongly asset-backed while at the smaller end of the funding scale Close looks at second or third round technology propositions. Finally, in the middle ground (investments of between £1 and £5 million) Close is focused on mainstream growth capital and smaller MBOs. CVM can be reached on 0207 422 7830. Further information is also available on www.closeventures.co.uk

CVM is a subsidiary of Close Brothers group plc and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Seed Capital Ltd, Investment Managers to Oxford Technology 4 VCT

Seed Capital is the manager of the four Oxford Technology VCTs, and has been making and managing early stage technology investments since 1983.

Press enquiries to: Matthew Frohn
Phone: 01865 784466
E-mail: matthew@oxfordtechnology.com