AILERON Therapeutics Announces $7 Million in Funding AILERON Therapeutics today announced that it has raised $7 million through a private placement of Preferred Stock. This placement provides AILERON with the financial strength necessary to advance its lead oncology program towards IND and to further the pre-clinical development of additional programs that utilize the company's proprietary stapled peptide technology platform. The financing round included Apple Tree Partners and the Novartis Venture Fund. "We are extremely pleased to have attracted a high-quality investor such as the Novartis Venture Fund to AILERON and we also appreciate the increased support of our founding investor, Apple Tree Partners," said Joseph A. Yanchik III, CEO of AILERON. "This capital will enable us to continue successfully applying the stapled peptide technology to develop leads for a diversity of intracellular protein-protein interaction targets that have proven to be 'undruggable' by conventional strategies. The success of these first programs will validate the AILERON technology as an important product engine for the development of a new class of medicines and will help build a portfolio of product candidates for development by AILERON." "This private placement is a testament to AILERON's vision for creating a new class of drugs that address an enormous opportunity unmet by both small molecules and biologics," said Seth Harrison, M.D., managing partner of Apple Tree Partners. "We are very impressed with AILERON's progress to date, and believe that AILERON's potential to bring a pipeline of novel and valuable drugs to market for the treatment of cancer and other major diseases make it an ideal investment for NVF," said Campbell Murray, M.D., a managing director at Novartis Venture Fund. "We are very pleased to be joining Apple Tree Partners in helping to accelerate the development of such an exciting company." About Apple Tree Partners Apple Tree Partners (ATP) backs experienced entrepreneurs in the creation of drug development, drug discovery and medical device companies. Founded in 1999 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, ATP manages two venture capital funds totaling $105 million and is currently invested in 8 companies. ATP works with biopharmaceutical and medical device scientists and executives to develop technologically innovative market driven companies. In general, ATP invests in proprietary products and technologies that have the potential to serve markets with unmet needs. ATP prefers to start companies, yet ATP will work with assets at all stages of development. ATP seeks to leverage its capital through syndication with larger venture firms, corporate partnering and innovative financing approaches. For more information please visit www.appletreepartners.com. About Novartis Venture Fund Novartis Venture Fund (NVF), established in 1996, currently manages over $550 million in committed capital and is invested in more then 50 private companies. As a financially driven corporate life science investor, NVF invests in companies which have the potential to lead the next innovation wave in core therapeutic fields or explore new business areas that will be critical to patient care. The primary interest is in the development of novel therapeutics and platforms and is augmented with investments in medical devices, diagnostics, biomarkers and delivery systems. For example, NVF was a key investor in Infinity, Kudos, Syrrx, GylcArt, Idenix, Transform, Speedel and Cytos. The Fund prefers to invest in the early-stages of company development and is able to lead, co-lead or participate in a larger syndicate. The NVF team of nine investment professionals located in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, MA brings together extensive experience in pharmaceutical R&D and venture capital. For more information please visit www.venturefund.novartis.com. About AILERON Therapeutics, Inc. AILERON Therapeutics is an emerging biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, MA that is applying its proprietary cell permeable peptide technology to generate breakthrough therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. AILERON's technology is the first and only process that allows peptides to penetrate cells in a sequence-independent manner. AILERON is developing the first generation of peptide therapeutics directed at intra-cellular protein-protein interaction targets that are not addressable by small molecule or biological drugs. For more information please visit www.aileronrx.com.