Press Release

Nextech Invest Portfolio Company Blueprint Medicines Raises US$ 147 million in Upsized IPO on NASDAQ

Zurich (Switzerland), April 30, 2015 - Nextech Invest Ltd., the Swiss specialist oncology private equity investor, today announced that the portfolio company Blueprint Medicines (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) has priced its NASDAQ Initial Public Offering (IPO) above the initial price range of US$ 15 - US$ 17 per share. The IPO was heavily oversubscribed and 8,145,834 shares were sold at US$ 18 per share leading to gross proceeds of US$ 147 million and a market capitalization of US$ 465 million. The shares are expected to begin trading on the NASDAQ Global Market on April 30, 2015 under the symbol "BPMC".

Blueprint Medicines was founded in 2011 by the three developers of cancer drug Gleevec imatinib and Third Rock Ventures, to develop targeted cancer therapeutics. Nextech Invest was lead-investor of the Series B financing in January 2014 together with Biotech Value Fund, Fidelity Bioscience, Casdin Capital and other undisclosed investors. In November 2014, Blueprint Medicines raised an additional US$ 50 million in a mezzanine Series C financing that included existing and other well-known public investors.

"The company has made impressive progress since its inception in 2011, having built a differentiated translational discovery platform and pipeline of five kinase development programs. Each program targets genomically defined cancers, of which two programs will enter clinical development this year. Blueprint's genomic insight combined with the drug development expertise positions the company to bring the next wave of targeted therapies for patients in need," said Thilo Schroeder, Partner at Nextech Invest and previous member of the board of Blueprint Medicines.

"We are pleased to see our fourth company successfully completing an IPO on NASDAQ within the last two years. We would like to wish the Blueprint Medicines management team great fortune over the coming years while seeking clinical proof-of-concept of the c-KIT, FGFR4, and several follow on programs," said Alfred Scheidegger, Founding Partner at Nextech Invest.

Nextech Invest currently holds ten companies in its portfolio, all focusing on different cancer treatments and indications. The portfolio includes Blueprint Medicines [NASDAQ:BPMC], ImaginAb, Jounce Therapeutics, Kura Oncology, MacroGenics [NASDAQ:MGNX], MolecularMD, Peloton Therapeutics, Sunesis Pharmaceuticals [NASDAQ:SNSS], TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals [NASDAQ:TLOG], and TRACON Pharmaceuticals [NASDAQ:TCON]. From its fourteen oncology investments since 2007, Nextech Invest has made three full exits, two partial exits and now four IPOs.

About Blueprint Medicines
Blueprint Medicines makes kinase drugs to treat patients with genomically defined diseases. Led by a team of industry innovators, Blueprint Medicines integrates a novel target discovery engine and a proprietary compound library to understand the blueprint of cancer and craft highly selective therapies. This empowers the Blueprint Medicines team to develop patient-defined medicines aimed at eradicating cancer. Blueprint Medicines has raised US$ 260 million in financings since its 2011 inception. For more information, please visit http://www.blueprintmedicines.com.

About Nextech Invest Ltd.
The global oncology specialist private equity firm Nextech Invest Ltd., established in 1998 in Zurich, Switzerland, focuses on investing in cancer companies. Supported by a Scientific Advisory Board of six oncologists chaired by Prof. Dr. David Livingston, Deputy Director Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Nextech Invest is investing in emerging companies with pioneering innovations in cancer research that have compounds entering clinical trials. The other members of the Scientific Advisory Board are: Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Altmann, Prof. Dr. William Kaelin, Prof. Dr. Sir Bruce Ponder, Dr. Charles Sawyers and Prof. Dr. Paul Workman. Nextech Invest is a longstanding member of leading networks in private equity, such as SECA and EVPA. Nextech Invest works closely with the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).

For more information, please contact:
Thilo Schroeder
Nextech Invest Ltd.
Tel.: +41 44 366 66 14
schroeder@nextechinvest.com
www.nextechinvest.com