COT Cotinga Pharmaceuticals Inc

Critical Outcome Technologies Inc. ("COTI" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:COT),
the bioinformatics and accelerated drug discovery company, is pleased to
announce that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent ("LOI") to form a
joint venture with Portage Biotech Inc. ("Portage"), a British Virgin Island
incorporated public company, listed and traded on the Canadian Securities
Exchange ("PTB.U"), and on NASDAQ and the OTC ("PTGEF") to fund and direct the
Phase 1 development of the Company's clinical oncology candidate, COTI-2.


"The formation of this joint venture will bring substantial technical and
industry expertise to the development of COTI-2 and should enable us to move
into clinical trials and provide the human data validation that is of primary
interest to many potential licensing partners," said Mr. John Drake, Chairman of
COTI. "The timing of this joint venture should also help us to meet our
objective of having COTI-2 enter the clinic this year."


Under the terms of the LOI, the Company and Portage have agreed to form a joint
venture company ("JV Co") wherein the Company will grant an exclusive limited
license for COTI-2 to JV Co for the development of COTI-2 from the point it
commences the final pre-clinical 28-day two-species toxicity studies, through
IND preparation and filing, a Phase 1 clinical trial and all related or ensuing
development as determined to be appropriate by JV Co. Portage will invest $5.0
million USD in JV Co and these funds will be used to fund the mutually agreed
upon development plan for COTI-2. JV Co will be co-owned 50/50 by COTI and
Portage. Subject to completion of the transactions contemplated in the LOI, the
Company will pay a finder's fee to an arm's length third party through the
issuance of common share purchase warrants in accordance with applicable
securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. 


Upon signing the LOI and successful completion of the remaining due diligence,
Portage and COTI will enter into negotiations of a definitive plan and agreement
of joint venture (the "JV Agreement") and an exclusive limited license agreement
in respect of COTI-2. The JV Agreement will be in form and substance mutually
acceptable to the Company and Portage, acting reasonably, and will contain,
among other things, representations, warranties, terms, conditions and
indemnities of the respective parties customary for transactions of this nature.



Portage and COTI will work together to assemble a comprehensive drug development
and licensing team to direct the optimal clinical development of COTI-2. In this
regard, Dr. Declan Doogan, CEO of Portage, and formerly Senior Vice President
and Head of Worldwide Development at Pfizer Global Research & Development, will
be overseeing the clinical development of COTI-2. Other members of the team will
be finalized as the joint venture agreements, development plan and budgets are
formalized.


"Dr. Greg Bailey, a successful serial life science entrepreneur, and Mr. James
Mellon, an internationally recognized investor and serial entrepreneur, are two
of the principals of Portage and they, along with Dr. Doogan, will bring a
wealth of drug development, pharma deal making experience and contacts to the
COTI-2 program," said Dr. Wayne Danter, COTI's CEO. "I am delighted by the
prospect of moving COTI-2 forward with an experienced team both from a clinical
development perspective and a financial resources basis to realize on the
potential for making a difference in the lives of many cancer patients. In
addition, this joint venture format may represent a development and
commercialization template for COTI's future drug discovery and preclinical
development programs."


"COTI has created a very intriguing new pharmaceutical agent for an unmet
clinical need utilizing their unique platform," said Dr. Greg Bailey, Chairman
of Portage. "Portage looks forward to finishing our due diligence and assembling
a very sophisticated oncology drug development team in conjunction with COTI."


"Our team is excited to begin work on this project," said Dr. Declan Doogan, CEO
of Portage. "The mechanism of action is intriguing and the medical potential for
the compound is clear. We look forward to a productive collaboration with our
new partners."  


Additional details will be communicated when the agreements have been finalized.

About Portage Biotech Inc.

Portage is engaged in researching and developing pharmaceutical and biotech
products through to clinical "proof of concept" with an initial focus on unmet
clinical needs. Following proof of concept, Portage will look to sell or license
the products to large pharmaceutical companies for further development and
commercialization.


Portage is seeking discovery and co-development partners in areas such as
cancer, infectious disease, neurology and psychiatry, developing novel targeted
therapies, stem cell therapy and even older marketed products that have been
found to have novel patentable characteristics that bring new value to patients.


Portage seeks to work with a wide range of partners, in all phases of
development through in-licensing or other types of alliances. The collaboration
may include direct funding or investing human capital from our extensive pool of
talented scientists and physicians. Specifically, Portage will invest sweat
equity as well as, or instead of, capital. This internal pool of drug
developers, financiers, scientists and physicians will provide unique value-add
for our partners including but not limited to mitigating risks, clinical trial
design, regulatory expertise and maximizing the rewards. 


Portage has two operating subsidiaries - Portage Pharmaceuticals Limited ("PPL")
which is wholly owned by Portage, and Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company
Limited ("Biohaven") in which Portage holds a 54% equity position.


For further information, contact Greg Bailey, the Chairman at
gb@portagebiotech.com or Kam Shah, Chief Financial Officer, at (416) 929-1806 or
ks@portagebiotech.com or visit their website at www.portagebiotech.com.


About Critical Outcome Technologies Inc.

COTI is a leading-edge technology company specializing in accelerating the
discovery and development of small molecules - dramatically reducing the time
and cost to bring new drugs to market. COTI'S proprietary artificial
intelligence system, CHEMSAS(R), utilizes a series of predictive computer models
to identify compounds with a high probability of being successfully developed
from disease specific drug discovery through chemical optimization and
preclinical testing. These compounds are targeted for a variety of diseases,
particularly those for which current treatments are either lacking or
ineffective.


For more information, visit www.criticaloutcome.com.

Follow @CriticalOutcome on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CriticalOutcome.

Notice to Readers

Information contained in this press release may contain certain statements,
which constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Securities Act (Ontario) and applicable securities laws. For example, the
statement "... has signed a non-binding letter of intent ("LOI") to form a joint
venture ..." and "... should enable us to move into clinical trials and provide
the human data validation that is of primary interest to many potential
licensing partners..." and "... timing of this joint venture should enable us to
meet our objective of having COTI-2 enter the clinic this year" and "... we are
going to be able to move COTI-2 forward with an experienced team both from a
clinical development perspective and a financial resources basis to realize on
the potential ..." are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements by
their nature are not guarantees of future performance and are based upon
management's current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. COTI
operates in a highly competitive environment that involves significant risks and
uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those
anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Management of COTI considers
the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based to be
reasonable, but as a result of the many risk factors, cautions the reader that
actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in these
forward-looking statements. Information in this press release should be
considered accurate only as of the date of the release and may be superseded by
more recent information disclosed in later press releases, filings with the
securities regulatory authorities or otherwise.


Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term
is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: 
Critical Outcome Technologies Inc.
Dr. Wayne Danter
President & CEO
519-858-5157
wdanter@criticaloutcome.com
www.criticaloutcome.com


Heisler Communications
Trevor Heisler
Investor Relations
416-500-8061
trevor@heislercommunications.com

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