DiaMedica Retains the Law Firm Cooley LLP as its Intellectual Property and Corporate Partnering Counsel

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA--(Marketwire - Aug. 28, 2012) - DiaMedica (TSX VENTURE:DMA) today announces that it has retained Cooley LLP ("Cooley") and Bill Christiansen, Ph.D., as its primary legal counsel for intellectual property and legal advisor for partnering.

Cooley is working closely with DiaMedica to expand the company's already comprehensive patent portfolio, including recent freedom to operate and patentability analysis. As a result of this analysis, DiaMedica has recently filed several new patent applications and established several non-patent barriers to further protect its products. In addition, Cooley, with its established and dedicated team of corporate partnering and licensing attorneys, will provide corporate representation to DiaMedica with regards to the company's ongoing partnership discussions.

"Cooley's proven track record and expertise in patents and mergers and acquisitions give us great confidence that the interests of DiaMedica and our shareholders will be protected while we pursue various strategic opportunities," stated Rick Pauls, Chairman and CEO of DiaMedica.

About Cooley LLP

Cooley was named 2011-2012 "Law Firm of the Year" in Biotechnology, by US News and Best Lawyers, and consistently ranks #1 for representation of life sciences companies.

Cooley's 650 attorneys have an entrepreneurial spirit and deep, substantive experience, and are committed to solving clients' most challenging legal matters. From small companies with big ideas to international enterprises with diverse legal needs, Cooley has the breadth of legal resources to enable companies of all sizes to seize opportunities in today's global marketplace. The firm represents clients across a broad array of dynamic industry sectors, including technology, life sciences, venture capital, clean energy, real estate and retail.

Cooley and its nationally preeminent life sciences practice serves as counsel to nearly 35 percent of the companies on the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. Cooley has completed more than 70 major corporate partnering and licensing deals, with total deal value in excess of $26.5 billion, closed more than 90 life sciences M&A deals, and completed more than 200 life sciences public offerings, including 36 IPOs.

About DiaMedica

DiaMedica is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovery and development of novel therapeutic compounds for diabetes and other major, medically-unmet diseases. DiaMedica's lead compound, DM-199, is a recombinant human protein that represents a novel approach to treating Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. In a Type 1 diabetes model, DM-199 halted the autoimmune attack on beta cells by stimulating regulatory T-cells, and resulted in a 12-fold increase in C-peptide levels. In Type 2 diabetes models, DM-199 treatment stimulated proliferation of insulin producing beta cells, resulting in significant improvement in glucose control. DiaMedica is also developing a novel monoclonal antibody, DM-204 as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes. Chronic treatment with DM-204 in a Type 2 diabetes model resulted in significant improvement in blood glucose control and HbA1c levels and also significant decreases in blood pressure and serum cholesterol.

DiaMedica's DM-199 and DM-204 were both named Windhover's "2011 Top 10 Cardiovascular/Metabolic Projects to Watch". The Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol 'DMA'.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts contain forward-looking information that involves risk and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address DiaMedica's expectations, should be considered forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management's exercise of business judgment as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. When used in this document, the words "may", "will", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and words of similar import, are intended to identify any forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect a current view of future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties as contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation, and does not intend, to update, revise or otherwise publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of any unanticipated events. Although management believes that expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, no assurance can be given that these expectations will materialize.