23rd July 2002
CBT SECURES SERIES A FINANCING OF £6 MILLION
Cambridge Biotechnology Ltd (CBT) has secured
a £6 million series 'A' financing from The Cambridge Gateway Fund,
Merlin Biosciences, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation and
Northern Venture Managers Ltd.
The investment will be used by CBT to support the company's programmes
in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment
of pain and obesity, and in the identification of novel drug targets.
CBT has an intellectual property portfolio which includes novel GPCR agonists,
which the company is using to develop a novel analgesic, and a series
of small molecule appetite modulators. CBT also has an exclusive licence
to use a proprietary technique for the amplification of mRNA from a small
number of cells; this technology is being used to identify novel therapeutic
targets to feed the drug discovery pipeline.
The company has ambitious and expansive growth plans and has already identified
the scope and timing of the series 'B' financing.
"At CBT we have a great team and some really exciting programmes,"
said Dr Michael Kilpatrick, Chairman of CBT. "This investment will
provide the resources necessary to rapidly progress these opportunities
to add shareholder value."
Dr Catherine Beech, of The Cambridge Gateway Fund, said "CBT is unusual
in an early stage company as it has strengths in target identification,
drug discovery and already has two well established programmes in key
therapeutic areas. We are very excited to have invested in this opportunity"About
Cambridge Biotechnology Ltd
Cambridge Biotechnology Ltd (CBT) is a privately owned biotechnology company
founded in May 2001. The company's founders originate from a Pfizer Global
Research & Development drug discovery team in what had previously
been the Parke-Davis Neuroscience Research Centre. The founders, together
with some key academic collaborators, created the company to exploit several
drug discovery opportunities in pain and obesity as well as their world
class "gene to lead" drug discovery capability.
Definition of Technical Terms
GPCR agonists
GPCR stands for G-protein coupled receptor. GPCRs are a family of proteins
found on the surface of cells. They function to bind molecular signals
present outside the cell, such as hormones and neurotransmitters, and
transmit the information to the cell. Traditionally GPCRs have proved
to be very successful drug targets for the pharmaceutical industry. Agonists
are molecules that activate the receptors to mimic the action of the endogenous
signaling molecule specific to that receptor.
mRNA
mRNA is the molecule that translates the information present in genes
into proteins. In any given cell at any given time, only a subset of the
genes is "expressed" i.e. switched on. Studying the mRNA present
within a cell provides information about which genes are expressed in
that cell.
Contact
Dr Michael Kilpatrick - Chairman
Cambridge Biotechnology Ltd
Department of Pharmacology
University of Cambridge
Tennis Court Road
Cambridge
CB2 1PD
Tel: 07050 128 569
Information in this press release may include forward-looking statements,
which embrace risk and uncertainties. However all information included
in this text is based on information available at the time of issue. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results
could differ materially from current expectations.
List of Investors
The Cambridge Gateway Fund
The Cambridge Gateway Fund invests predominantly in companies with global
reach that are connected to the Eastern Region of the UK, and which are
exploiting innovative core technology in Information and Communication
Technologies and Life Sciences.
Advised by N W Brown Capital Partners Limited, the Fund is part of the
NW Brown Group which has been serving the needs of growing companies and
their employees for 25 years in the Eastern region of the UK. Based in
the centre of Cambridge, the Group is active in a number of business areas
including investment management, corporate finance and insurance. It employs
90 people.
Merlin Biosciences
Merlin Biosciences Limited (Merlin) is a broad-based venture capital and
advisory company dedicated to the life sciences sector. It has one of
the largest, most experienced biotech investment teams in Europe and is
currently advising funds approaching 400 million. Merlin supports companies
in all stages of their development - from early stage, through pre-IPO
and post-flotation and has an extensive network of advisers and experienced
strategic partners. Merlin advises three funds which encompass this spectrum
of development: The Merlin Biosciences Fund, Finsbury Life Sciences Investment
Trust, and The Merlin Fund. Merlin Biosciences Limited is regulated by
the FSA.
For additional information, please visit our website at www.merlin-biosciences.com
Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation
Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), the venture capital
arm of Johnson & Johnson, focuses on minority equity investments in
start-up healthcare companies with particular emphasis on biopharmaceutical
products and medical devices.
JJDC is headquartered in New Jersey, USA, with offices in California,
Belgium, Israel, Japan and the UK.
Northern Venture Managers
Northern Venture Managers is a specialist venture capital management firm,
which operates from offices in Newcastle upon Tyne, Reading and Edinburgh
and now has assets under management of more than £150 million. Since
June 2000 NVM has been part of the Edinburgh Fund Managers group.
Among the funds managed by NVM is Northern Investors Company PLC, which
was launched as a private investment company in 1984 and has been listed
on the London Stock Exchange since April 1990. Over the period from 1
May 1990 to 1 April 2002 the company achieved a share price total return
to investors of 406% (source: S& P's Micropal, mid to mid, income
reinvested).
As well as managing Northern Investors Company, Northern Venture Managers
is an active operator in the expanding Venture Capital Trust (VCT) market
and has to date raised over £100 million from VCT investors. NVM's
current VCT issue is Northern 3 VCT, a new generalist VCT, which is aiming
to raise up to £25 million in the 2001/02 and 2002/03 tax years.