Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vital Therapies Completes First Closing of $8 Million Private Equity Financing

San Diego, November 1, 2005 - Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTI) announced today that it has completed the first close of the Company's Series B private equity financing, raising $8 million. MedVenture Associates led the investment, with participation from Valley Ventures, Paragon Venture Partners and Toucan Capital, plus other individual investors.

The proceeds of the financing will enable the Company to initiate further clinical studies of the Extracorporeal Liver Assist Device (ELAD ^®) system, the first human liver cell- based therapy that provides important metabolic support for patients with severe liver failure by eliminating toxins and synthesizing many of the proteins that are key products of normal human liver function. This support extends the time available to provide patients with a bridge to recovery or a liver transplant, based on the type and severity of liver failure.

VTI has already completed Phase I and 2 clinical trials with ELAD in the United States and the United Kingdom. In 2006, VTI plans to confirm ELAD's safety and efficacy in pivotal clinical trials in China, which will serve as the basis for China approval and launch. Liver disease is a major medical problem in China, where it results in more than 400,000 deaths per year. VTI expects to begin pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States in 2007.

In connection with the financing, Jan Barker of MedVenture Associates has joined the VTI Board of Directors. Also on the Board are Randolph C. Steer M.D., Ph. D., an independent pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices consultant, and Terry E. Winters, Ph.D., VTI chairman and CEO. Linda Powers of Toucan Capital has joined as an observer to the Board.

"At MedVenture Associates we know that successful investments require an innovative idea, a large unmet market need and a capable management team. Vital Therapies has all of these components," said Jan Barker. "The ELAD system offers the potential to significantly impact a large, underserved market by reducing morbidity and mortality for patients with liver disease."

"We have put together a great team at Vital Therapies and a wonderful group of investors with in-depth experience and understanding of both the medical device industry and liver disease," said Dr. Winters. "We selected China for our initial market launch due to the tremendous human need there, the size of the market and the country's receptivity to new approaches for liver disease. However, we will quickly follow with the implementation of our plans in the United States and Europe."

Further information on MedVenture Associates can be found at www.medvcn.com., Toucan Capital at www.toucancapital.com and at Valley Ventures www.valleyventure.com.

About Liver Disease
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines the worldwide market for acute-on- chronic liver failure as approximately 12 million patients. Currently, the only widely accepted therapy for liver failure is transplantation. In the United States, liver disease is the 12th overall cause of death and the 7th leading cause in the 25-44 and 45-64 year-old groups. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), liver disease or cirrhosis are the primary diagnoses for 100,000 hospitalized patients in the United States each year, causing more than 25,000 deaths annually. Approximately 17,500 patients in the United States are on the liver transplant waiting list; less than one- third of these patients will receive a transplant.

In China, liver disease is endemic, causing more than 400,000 deaths annually. Hepatitis is the third most prevalent disease in China, and 20 million people have active viral liver disease. Official estimates suggest that China's yearly medical expenses for liver disease infections are more than $12 billion.

About Vital Therapies. Inc.
Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTI) is a San Diego-based liver therapy company. VTI is developing the first human-liver cell-based system, ELAD^® (Extracorporeal Liver Assist Device), which provides important metabolic support for patients with severe liver failure.

About ELAD^®
Vital Therapies, Inc.'s ELAD^® System provides important metabolic support for patients with severe liver failure, thereby enabling a bridge to recovery or transplant depending on the type and severity of liver failure. Unlike competitive artificial filtration systems, which simply remove toxins and can only be used for a treatment of several hours, the ELAD system both metabolizes toxins and provides synthetic function, producing many of the proteins that are key products of normal human liver function. The ELAD system can be used to treat a patient continually for up to 12 days. The key to the performance of ELAD is its utilization of a proprietary human hepatocyte cell line, C3A, an immortalized cell line that can be grown, stored and shipped worldwide.