Gentium Completes $10.9 Million Private Placement

Gentium S.p.A. (AMEX:GNT) (the "Company") announced
today that it has completed its previously announced $10.9 million
private placement of 1,551,125 of its American Depository Shares
(ADSs) at a price of $7.05 per ADS. Subject to shareholder approval,
investors in the financing will also receive warrants to purchase
620,452 ADSs at an exercise price of $9.69 per ADS. The purchase price
is subject to reduction of 20% if the Company's shareholders do not
approve the issuance of the warrants within 180 days. Funds managed by
Great Point Partners, LLC were the lead investors in the transaction.
Rodman & Renshaw LLC acted as the lead placement agent for the
offering, and Maxim Group LLC and I-Bankers Securities Incorporated
were co-placement agents.
   The net proceeds from the offering will be used to fund additional
costs relating to the Company's upcoming Phase III trial of
Defibrotide to treat Severe VOD, the Company's portion of the costs
related to the recently announced Phase I/II trial of Defibrotide to
treat Multiple Myeloma, the continued development of the Company's
other product candidates, and for general corporate purposes.
   The ADSs sold in the private placement and the shares issuable
upon exercise of the related warrants have not been registered under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or state securities laws, and
may not be offered or sold in the United States without being
registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or
through an applicable exemption from SEC registration requirements.
The shares were offered and sold only to qualified institutional
buyers and a limited number of accredited investors. The Company has
agreed to file a registration statement with the SEC covering the
resale of the ADSs issued in the private placement and issuable upon
exercise of the warrants.

   About VOD

   Severe VOD is a potentially life-threatening condition in which
some of the veins in the liver are blocked as a result of toxic cancer
treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy, and bone
marrow and stem cell transplants. Based on the Company's review of
more than 200 published papers in the medical literature, it is
estimated that approximately 80% of patients with Severe VOD die
within 100 days without treatment. There are no currently approved
treatments for Severe VOD.

   About the Company

   Gentium S.p.A. is a biopharmaceutical company located in Villa
Guardia (Como) that is focused on the research, discovery, and
development of drugs derived from DNA extracted from natural sources,
and drugs which are synthetic derivatives, to treat and prevent a
variety of vascular diseases and conditions related to cancer and
cancer treatments. Defibrotide, the Company's lead product candidate
in the U.S., is an investigational drug that has been granted Orphan
Drug status by the U.S. FDA to treat veno-occlusive disease (VOD) with
multiple organ failure ("Severe VOD") and Fast Track designation for
the treatment of Severe VOD in recipients of stem cell transplants.

   Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

   This press release contains "forward-looking statements." In some
cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such
as "may," "might," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate,"
"believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," the
negative of these terms, and other comparable terminology. These
statements are not historical facts but instead represent the
Company's belief regarding future results, many of which, by their
nature, are inherently uncertain and outside the Company's control. It
is possible that actual results may differ, possibly materially, from
those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. For a
discussion of some of the risks and important factors that could
affect future results, see the discussion in our Prospectus filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission under Rule 424(b)(4) under the
caption "Risk Factors."

   GNT - G