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NEWSPRING CAPITAL PORTFOLIO COMPANY CFO RECOGNIZED AS NJTC CFO OF THE YEAR

RADNOR, PA, June 16, 2009 – NewSpring Capital, headquartered in Radnor, PA with offices in Short Hills, NJ and Washington D.C., is pleased to announce that Richard DeSimone of EKR Therapeutics has been named New Jersey Technology Council's CFO of the Year. Mr. DeSimone was one of three finalists selected for the CFO of the Year Category. Other categories in NJTC's CFO Awards included Deal of the Year, Financier of the Year and Hall of Fame awards. Alina Groblicka, CFO of Sopherion Therapeutics, a NewSpring portfolio company, was also named as a finalist for Deal of the Year.

Mr. DeSimone has been the Chief Operating Officer and Acting CFO of EKR Therapeutics since the Company's founding in 2005 where he led the Company through three rounds of institutional financing. NewSpring Capital led EKR's initial institutional financing round in June 2006 and has participated in all subsequent rounds.

Zev Scherl, General Partner of NewSpring Capital, who has been on the EKR board since June 2006 commented, “I congratulate Richard on winning this prestigious award. Richard deserves this recognition for his success and continued hard work.” Upon receiving the honor, DeSimone said, “Receiving this award from the NJTC is truly a great tribute, one which I share with everyone at EKR. It is the corporate wide team spirit that fuels the EKR success story and I am grateful to everyone for their contributions for the honor bestowed on our company by the NJTC.”

Complete information on the NJTC CFO Awards can be found at www.njtc.org/events/cfo2009/finalists.html. Information on EKR Therapeutics can be found at www.ekrtx.com.