DiaMedica Named One of TSX Venture's Top 50 Companies

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA--(Marketwire - Feb. 16, 2012) - DiaMedica Inc. (TSX VENTURE:DMA) is pleased to announce today this it has been named as one of the TSX Venture Top 50 ® companies for 2012, an annual ranking of Canada's emerging publicly traded companies.

"We are honored to be recognized amongst the TSX Venture Top 50 ® and we look forward to continuing to further enhance value for our shareholders as we advance the development of our novel products to treat Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes," said Rick Pauls, President and CEO of DiaMedica.

The TSX Venture 50 recognizes the top ten publically traded TSX Venture companies from each of five sectors; Clean Technology, Mining, Oil & Gas, Diversified Industries, and Technology & Life Sciences. DiaMedica is included in the Technology & Life Sciences sector. TSX Venture 50 companies were chosen, with equal weighting assigned to each, based on the following criteria: share price appreciation, trading volume, market capitalization growth and analyst coverage.

The Company also announced that it has issued 395,000 stock options to officers under the terms of the Company's stock option plan. The options have an exercise price of $1.70 and a term of 10 years. The grant of options is subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.

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.