Taicang, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, July 24, 2012 — Suzhou Connect Biopharmaceuticals, Ltd. today announced it, through its wholly owned subsidiary Connect Biopharm LLC in San Diego, has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., for the development and commercialization of novel small molecule compounds intended for the treatment of allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis.

The allergic inflammation program was initiated and led by Zheng Wei, Ph.D., co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Suzhou Connect and the former Director of Immunology at Arena. Intellectual property assets under the licensing agreement include two series of anti-inflammatory compounds as well as a new method for treating diseases. The molecular targets and financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We are extremely excited to acquire the rights to these promising preclinical drug candidates and this method of treatment from Arena, a recognized leader in GPCR drug discovery and development,” said Dr. Wei. “Allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis together afflict more than one third of the world’s population, and current treatments have severe limitations. This agreement provides us with a unique opportunity to address such limitations by advancing drug candidates with novel mechanisms of action. It comes on the heels of our recent financing round, which enables us to fund the program into clinical proof-of-concept studies.”

“We look forward to Connect’s advancement of the novel anti-inflammatory compounds that comprise this program,” saidDominic P. Behan, Ph.D., Arena’s Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer.

About Suzhou Connect Biopharmaceuticals

Connect is a startup biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics targeting G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, allergy and cancer. The company was founded by Dr. Zheng Wei, formerly Director of Immunology at Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Dr. William (Wubin) Pan, co-founder and formerly China President and Chief Operation Officer of Crown Biosciences, Inc., with investment from Xiang Tang Group. In addition to developing drug candidates through in-licensing, the company uses its proprietary GMab technology to discover and develop therapeutic antibodies against GPCR drug targets.

About Arena Pharmaceuticals 

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing oral drugs that target G protein-coupled receptors, an important class of validated drug targets, in four major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, central nervous system, inflammatory and metabolic diseases. For more information about Arena Pharmaceuticals, please visit www.arenapharm.com.

Arena Pharmaceuticals® and Arena® are registered service marks of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.