MENLO PARK, CA, Protagonist Therapeutics today announced the addition of $4 million to its previously announced Series B private financing, bringing the total raised in this round to $18 million. Pharmstandard International S.A., a holding company of the major pharmaceutical company in Russia, OJSC Pharmstandard (LSE: PHST), has joined the round as a new investor.

'Protagonist's orally stable peptides represent a game-changing approach that especially enables the development of orally administered NCEs (new chemical entities) for inflammatory bowel diseases and other gastro-intestinal disorders,' said Alexander Shuster, Ph.D., President of Inbio Ventures, a management company representing Pharmstandard International. 'We were impressed by the company's technology, partnerships, development achievements to date, and the management team.'

'The addition of Pharmstandard to our investor base reflects the growing international interest in the field of orally active peptides, as well as recognition by investors of the significant advantages offered by our technology over other approaches,' said Dinesh V. Patel, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Protagonist Therapeutics. 'This additional international investment enables us to further focus efforts on building a strong pipeline of developmental candidates for our internal pipeline and selective asset-based partnering.'

About Pharmstandard International S.A./Inbio Ventures

Pharmstandard International S.A. - a holding company fully committed by OJSC Pharmstandard (LSE:PHST) - is a venture investments fund focused on innovative drugs/therapies with strong potential at global markets and in Russia and CIS countries. Inbio Ventures is a management company representing Pharmstandard International, S.A., and providing professional support in venture transactions. http://www.inbio-ventures.com.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics is a U.S.-incorporated biotechnology company pursuing the discovery and development of 'orally stable peptides' against validated targets and diseases that are currently being addressed only by 'injectable biologics'. Oral peptides can offer a superior choice to patients, physicians, and payers by virtue of their enhanced safety & efficacy, better convenience & compliance, and favorable affordability in comparison to the injectable antibodies. The company has a proprietary and validated technology platform comprised of well integrated computational, phage display and peptide chemistry discovery tools that are tailored to explore the full potential of oral peptide therapeutics.

Protagonist is a spin-out of University of Queensland's Institute of Molecular Biosciences (IMB) and is headquartered in the USA with discovery operations in Menlo Park, California USA and Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. For further information, please visit http://www.protagonist-inc.com.