About Avalon Ventures Ltd.

Avalon Ventures Ltd. is a Canadian junior mineral exploration and development company, with a primary focus on rare metals and minerals with high technology applications related to electronics, energy efficiency and a cleaner environment. Avalon currently holds a portfolio of five such projects, including three that are at, or close to, the feasibility stage. Shares Outstanding: 64,649,748. Cash resources: approximately $9.0 million.

To find out more about Avalon Ventures Ltd. (TSX: AVL), please visit our website at www.avalonventures.com. This news release is available on the Company's official on-line investor relations site for investor commentary, feedback and questions. Investors are invited to visit the "Avalon Ventures" IR Hub at http://www.agoracom.com/ir/avalon. In addition, investors are invited to e-mail their questions and correspondence to AVL@agoracom.com.

This news release contains forward-looking information and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information.

Contacts:
Avalon Ventures Ltd.
Don Bubar, P.Geo.
President
(416) 364-4938
(416) 364-5162 (FAX)
Email: office@avalonventures.com
Website: www.avalonventures.com

SOURCE: Avalon Ventures Ltd.

mailto:office@avalonventures.com
http://www.avalonventures.com

"In today's uncertain economic environment, only the most extraordinary growth companies will be financed, and Awarepoint is extraordinary. The company has shown incredible growth in the last 18 months, and has the right technology, intellectual property and product focus to succeed," said Brandon Hull, managing partner at lead investor Cardinal Partners. "Awarepoint is an ideal match with Cardinal Partners' stated goal of funding innovative technology/service companies which 'automate the broken processes of healthcare.'"

Venrock joins Cardinal Partners in this financing round. "Awarepoint addresses a difficult and expensive challenge that healthcare institutions face every day," said Brian Ascher, general partner at Venrock. "We are excited about the company's potential for growth and are looking forward to working alongside the team to help drive its success."

While many companies are struggling today, Awarepoint's hard dollar return on investment and hospital-friendly business model is actually fueling tremendous growth. Awarepoint is able to offer a hard dollar return on investment in areas hospitals struggle with daily -- lost, stolen and misplaced equipment, excessive equipment rentals, and capital budget redundancies. Further, Awarepoint's interoperability, enterprise-wide coverage, location accuracy and minimally invasive installs allow hospitals to be ready to support more complex RTLS opportunities, including workflow and business applications that involve patient and staff tracking, device association and more.

"For hospital administrators, there's little worse than spending precious capital resources on equipment they may not even need. With actionable information regarding the location and status of the equipment they already own, hospitals are able to reallocate existing capital budget dollars, or simply reduce their capital equipment and rental expenses. Today's challenging economic times make this more important than ever before," said Jason Howe, CEO at Awarepoint.

"In view of the financial turmoil facing healthcare markets today, it is especially rewarding to be able to partner with tier one investors like Cardinal Partners and Venrock that truly understand the implications technology can have on the bottom line. These firms not only add significant expansion capital to Awarepoint, just as importantly, they add true strategic vision and alliances that will undoubtedly help us build an even stronger company. In addition, it's very validating to have our existing investor, Avalon Ventures, participate fully in this round."

As a result of this financing round, Brandon Hull, managing partner at Cardinal Partners, and Brian Ascher, general partner at Venrock, will join Awarepoint's board of directors. The board also includes Jason Howe, CEO at Awarepoint; Nico Nierenberg, Chairman of the Board and Chief Architect, Actuate; Stephen L. Tomlin, Managing Member, Avalon Ventures; and Harold M. Koenig, M.D., Chairman and President, The Annapolis Center for Science Based Public Policy, retired Surgeon General of the Navy and Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery with the permanent rank of Vice Admiral.

About Awarepoint

Awarepoint's Active RFID technologies and real-time location systems (RTLSs) include its real-time awareness platform, firmware, RFID tags, sensors, and bridges. Awarepoint's technologies collect raw sensor data and transform that data into high-value positioning information that can be used to add location awareness to a variety of healthcare, manufacturing, security and other applications. Requiring no hard wiring, Awarepoint's "plug and track" network is a fully managed service, including hardware, software, remote monitoring and maintenance. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California and serves hospitals across the United States through a national sales and operations workforce. Track us down at www.awarepoint.com

About Cardinal Partners

Since 1996, Cardinal Partners has been one of the leading venture capital partnerships focused exclusively on healthcare investing. Cardinal is committed to the belief that innovation and excellence in healthcare will simultaneously improve the lives of millions, while also rewarding investors with extraordinary returns. As veteran company-builders, Cardinal principals partner with entrepreneurs, scientists, clinicians, engineers and inventors in the challenging task of growing great companies from great ideas. Over the course of their careers, the Cardinal Partners team has invested in over one hundred growth companies. Since 1997 alone, companies funded by Cardinal have a cumulative market valuation exceeding $6 Billion. Cardinal's investors include university endowments, foundations, pension funds, banks, and insurance companies. Cardinal currently manages funds totaling $330 Million. For more information, visit www.cardinalpartners.com

About Venrock

Venrock is a premier venture capital firm with offices in Palo Alto, New York, Cambridge, MA, and Israel. Originally established as the venture capital arm of the Rockefeller family, Venrock continues a seven-decade tradition of partnering with entrepreneurs to establish successful, enduring companies. Having invested $2.2 billion in 417 companies resulting in 124 IPOs over the past 39 years, Venrock's investment returns place it among the top tier venture capital firms that have achieved consistently superior performance. With a primary focus on technology, healthcare, and energy, portfolio companies have included Adify, Adnexus Therapeutics, Apple Computer, Centocor, Check Point Software, DoubleClick, Gilead Sciences, Idec Pharmaceuticals, Illumina, Intel, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Sirna Therapeutics, StrataCom, and Vontu. For more information, please visit Venrock's website at www.venrock.com

About Avalon Ventures

Avalon Ventures is a San Diego-based venture capital fund focusing on seed and early stage companies in life sciences, wireless communications and Web 3.0 digital media, primarily in California and the Northeast. The Company's current Fund, Avalon VIII, L.P. is $150 million. Avalon Ventures is one of the longest-standing venture capital firms in San Diego, investing in life sciences and information technology opportunities locally and around the country since 1983 through eight Avalon Ventures funds. The collective market capitalization of Avalon Ventures portfolio companies (most founded by Avalon partners) currently exceeds $11 billion. For more information, visit www.avalonvi.com

Contact:
Xenia Moore
Moore Media Relations
Email Contact
Phone  619-275-0185

Contact:
Kamilla Dahlin
Cardinal Partners
Email Contact
609-924-6452

Contact:
Valerie Fritz
Awarepoint®
Email Contact
Phone  858-345-5009

Contact:
Kelly Krebs
Venrock
Email Contact
415-905-4059

SOURCE: Awarepoint Corporation

http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=6878228105F24E02
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=3F3268E24F065CA3
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=6E4A910CE434C52A
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=34C65E716314D3E9

The financing, provided by Avalon Ventures LLC, and the grants position the company to advance its lead small-molecule glycan inhibitors identified with a proprietary high-throughput screening platform through safety studies into early clinical trials.

"Avalon's investment is an acknowledgment of the value of our technology platform for targeting glycan biosynthesis," said Charles Glass, Ph.D., Zacharon's co-founder and senior vice president of research. "Our high-throughput screening approach has already yielded several very promising small-molecule drug candidates for applications in genetic disorders and oncology."

Zacharon's most advanced compound is a small molecule glycan inhibitor for the treatment of mucopolysaccaridosis (MPS), an orphan disease with debilitating neurological symptoms. There is a significant market and medical need for improved MPS treatments because present therapies have limited efficacy and don't treat the neurological symptoms. Zacharon's lead compound may be the first therapy to treat the neurological symptoms associated with MPS as small molecules can cross the blood-brain barrier whereas existing treatments do not.

In conjunction with the financing, Avalon Ventures' Jay Lichter, Ph.D., will serve as Zacharon's president and chief executive officer, Doug Downs as chief financial officer and Court Turner as chief operating officer.

"Zacharon's technology is the first of its kind and a significant step forward in developing drugs for the treatment of glycan-related diseases," said Lichter. "Past attempts at developing drugs that target glycans have been limited by slow and expensive carbohydrate chemistry, as well as the lack of glycan-targeted high-throughput screening methods, making it impossible to screen small-molecule libraries. Zacharon has developed the technology and now has the financial backing to dominate the field of glycan-targeted drug discovery."

About Avalon Ventures

Avalon Ventures LLC is a San Diego-based venture capital firm that focuses on seed and early stage companies in life sciences, wireless communications and Web 3.0 digital media, primarily in California and the Northeast. Avalon's current Fund, Avalon VIII L.P., is $150 million.

Avalon Ventures is one of the longest-standing venture capital firms in San Diego, investing in life sciences and information technology opportunities locally and around the country since 1983 through eight Avalon Ventures funds. The collective market capitalization of Avalon Ventures' portfolio companies (most founded by Avalon partners) currently exceeds $11 billion.

For more information, visit the Avalon Ventures Web site at www.avalon-ventures.com

About Zacharon Pharmaceuticals

Zacharon Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on early stage development of a new class of small-molecule drugs that target glycans. Glycans are a diverse class of molecules with key roles in many chronic and serious diseases with significant unmet medical needs, including genetic disorders, oncology and inflammation. Zacharon uses its proprietary high-throughput screening technology to identify lead compounds that target glycans. The company's strategy is to demonstrate human proof of concept in Phase I/early Phase II clinical trials, and then out-license the drug candidates or reach regulatory approval through strategic alliances with larger pharmaceutical companies.

For more information, visit Zacharon's Web site at www.zacharon.com.

    Media Contacts:
    Heidi Chokeir or David Schull
    Russo Partners, LLC
    (619)814-3512
    heidi.chokeir@russopartnersllc.com
    david.schull@russopartnersllc.com

SOURCE Zacharon Pharmaceuticals Inc.

http://www.avalon-ventures.com/

   - Open, honest and regular dialogue with local communities
   - Minimizing impacts on the land and avoiding harm
   - Sustainability...beginning at the earliest stages of exploration
     and extending through mine closure
   - The environment and workplace health and safety
   - Hiring local people and promoting training programs
   - Partnerships to provide lasting benefits

Advisory Committee

Avalon recognizes that in order to achieve a high level of performance with respect to CSR, it is necessary to have oversight of its performance by outside experts. To this end, the Company has formed an Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors on matters relating to CSR such as community relations, environmental practice and health and safety in its projects. The Advisory Committee has three members with relevant experience in these areas and is chaired by Dr. William Mercer, Avalon's VP Exploration. Through PDAC, Dr. Mercer is a well-known advocate for best practice in the mineral exploration industry, where he sits on the PDAC's CSR and E3 committees and is the Chair of the Health and Safety committee. Avalon's Advisory Committee members are:

Chief Glenn Nolan of the Missanabie Cree First Nation in Northern Ontario, who in addition to his duties as a community leader, serves as Second Vice President of PDAC and co-chairs its Aboriginal Affairs committee. Chief Nolan is also the president of Learning Together, a not-for-profit organization committed to educating northern aboriginal communities on the economic opportunities presented by the mineral industry.

Mr. Jean Cinq-Mars is a wildlife biologist with a Masters degree in Public Administration and past experience with the Canadian Wildlife Service and Wildlife Habitat Canada. He also served as Head of the Pollution Prevention and Control Division of OECD and Director (Pollution Control) at Environment Canada.

Mr. Denis Kemp is a Minerals Engineer with over 40 years experience in the mining and metallurgical industry, including service as Director, Environmental Development; for Falconbridge Ltd. where he was responsible for for development and implementation of Sustainable Development policies consistent with Falconbridge's Code of Ethics.

Avalon is now in the process of implementing the PDAC's Principles and Guidelines for Responsible Exploration. The first step was the formation of the Advisory Committee and orientation of the Committee on the Company's current practice. The second step, now in progress, is to compare corporate performance in each area with the aspirations of the Guidelines and to detail areas where corporate CSR performance can be improved. The third step will be to introduce changes in corporate practice to conform to the Guidelines. In the future, Avalon will report regularly on its progress against these principles.

CSR Practice on the Thor Lake Project

The Company's top priority project is its Thor Lake rare metals project located in the Akaitcho territory, near Yellowknife, NWT, where a $6.0 million work program is underway for 2008 on the Lake Zone rare earth element deposit. Avalon began applying CSR principles immediately after acquiring the project in 2005. Under the leadership of Dr. Mercer, the Company has successfully engaged with the four local First Nations communities holding community meetings on nine occasions and hosting six site visits by community members over the past 12 months.

The Company has employed 14 individuals from these communities on the site at different times over the past two years and is promoting the development of two training programs for community members in co-operation with the NWT Mine Training Society, in the areas of First Aid and surface diamond drilling. Two local community based firms were contracted to carry out environmental work on the site, involving clean-up and disposal of debris, old fuel and other waste materials left behind by previous operators.

Further, the Company has successfully implemented good environmental practice following E3 on the ground including:

   - Careful containment of fuels and lubricants with mini-berms and
     spill kits
   - Minimizing impacts of tractor use on the land and to vegetation by
     corduroy on access trails
   - Collection and disposal of all garbage and kitchen waste through
     incineration to avoid attracting wildlife
   - Clean drill sites including on-land disposal of drill cuttings during
     winter drilling on Thor Lake

Finally, the Company reports that amongst its employees on site, it has 3,000 person-days with just one lost-time accident, while its contractors had 1300 person-days with no lost time accidents.

About Avalon Ventures Ltd.

Avalon Ventures Ltd. (TSX: AVL) is a Canadian junior mineral exploration and development company, with a primary focus on rare metals and minerals with high technology applications or offering environmental benefits. Avalon currently holds a portfolio of five such projects, including three that are at, or close to, the feasibility stage. Shares Outstanding: 64,649,748. Cash resources: approximately 9.0 million.

To find out more about Avalon Ventures Ltd. (TSX: AVL), please visit our website at www.avalonventures.com. This news release is available on the Company's official on-line investor relations site for investor commentary, feedback and questions. Investors are invited to visit the "Avalon Ventures" IR Hub at http://www.agoracom.com/ir/avalon. In addition, investors are invited to e-mail their questions and correspondence to AVL@agoracom.com or phone Don Bubar, P.Geo. President, at 416-364-4938. Mr. Bubar and Dr. Mercer are the Qualified Persons responsible for the technical content of this news release.

This news release contains forward-looking information. This forward-looking information includes, or may be based upon, estimates, forecasts, and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, the size and quality of the Company's mineral resources, progress in development of mineral properties, demand and market outlook for metals and future metal prices. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is given, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, uncertainties with respect to the receipt or timing of required permits and regulatory approvals, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future and other factors. The forward-looking information contained herein is given as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

APPENDIX: PDAC DRAFT PRINCIPLES FOR RESPONSIBLE EXPLORATION (Being Adopted by Avalon)

THE PRINCIPLES

1. Commit to ethical business practices

Objective: Establish and maintain ethical business practices and sound management systems that include sustainable development as a factor in business decision making.

2. Respect human rights

Objective: Actively respect human rights through the implementation of policies and procedures based on the principles of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and other relevant instruments in all dealings with individuals, communities, employees and all others affected by exploration activities.

3. Commit to project due diligence and risk assessment

Objective: Conduct appropriate project due-diligence, risk assessment and preparation of plans and strategies to address cultural, heritage, social, environmental, human rights, legal and policy issues and community expectations, based on sound information before going onto the ground. 4. Engage host communities and other affected and interested parties

Objective: Interact with host communities, communities affected by exploration activities, and other interested parties on the basis of respect, inclusion and participation, and provide timely, effective and transparent arrangements for communication, consultation, participation and reporting.

5. Contribute to community development and well being

Objective: Contribute to the social and economic development and institutional capacity building of the communities that are influenced by and related to exploration activities, and as appropriate to other parties, while respecting the communities' own vision of development.

6. Protect the environment

Objective: Conduct exploration activities in ways that create minimal impact on the environment (including people) by implementing good practices based on clear and established policies, strategies and plans, and by continuous learning and improvement.

7. Safeguard the health and safety of workers and the local population

Objective: Establish and implement policies and good practice for health and safety performance in all exploration activities and seek continual improvement.

Contacts:
Avalon Ventures Ltd.
Don Bubar, P.Geo.
President
(416) 364-4938
(416) 364-5162 (FAX)
Email: office@avalonventures.com
Website: www.avalonventures.com

SOURCE: Avalon Ventures Ltd.

mailto:office@avalonventures.com
http://www.avalonventures.com