Athenix Secures $13 Million in Series C Financing.RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK Research Triangle Park, research, business, medical, and educational complex situated in central North Carolina. It has an area of 6,900 acres (2,795 hectares) and is 8 × 2 mi (13 × 3 km) in size. Named for the triangle formed by Duke Univ. , N.C. -- Athenix Corp., a leading biotechnology company developing novel products, technologies, and processes for agricultural and chemical applications, announced today it has raised $13 million in growth capital through a Series C venture capital investment. The Series C round was led by new investor Finistere Partners of San Diego, California “San Diego” redirects here. For other uses, see San Diego (disambiguation). San Diego is a coastal Southern California city located in the southwestern corner of the continental United States. As of 2006, the city has a population of 1,256,951. , with continued strong participation from the entire existing investor group: Intersouth Partners of Durham, North Carolina Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham CountyGR6 and is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. , Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, Massachusetts, Boston Millennia Partners of Boston, Massachusetts, Hunt Ventures of Dallas, Texas, and Eastman Ventures, the venture capital arm of Eastman Chemical Company Eastman Chemical Company is a United States based chemical company, engaged in the manufacture and sale of chemicals, plastics and fibers. Eastman has 16 manufacturing sites in 10 countries, supplying its products throughout the world. of Kingsport, Tennessee. Athenix plans to use the proceeds to continue moving products from their broad portfolio through field trials to registration. Key products include major crops with enhanced traits such as tolerance to important herbicides and resistances to pests such as nematodes and insects. In October 2005 Athenix announced results from very successful field trials of transgenic plants containing proprietary glyphosate glyphosate herbicide and desiccant for grains. Heavy doses to birds cause soft shells on their eggs. tolerance genes. The company has discovered an important new class of genes that provides extremely high tolerance to glyphosate. "Athenix is an exciting investment opportunity," said Jerry Caulder of Finistere Partners. "The company continues to make excellent progress and is poised to become a key provider of high-value traits for transgenic plants." "Athenix is intensely focused on delivering the most advanced trait stack products to the Crop Production Industry. Our products provide growers with important alternatives essential for improving agricultural productivity," said Mike Koziel, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Athenix Corp. "This new round of financing is a great endorsement by our investors of our continued progress and future promise." About Athenix Corp. Athenix is a leading biotechnology company that discovers and develops novel products, technologies, and processes for the agricultural and chemical businesses. Athenix is focused on developing enhanced plants, microbes, enzymes and processes with emphasis on two major market opportunities: 1) the discovery of genes and proteins for novel input traits such as insect resistance, nematode nematode or roundworm Any of more than 15,000 named and many more unnamed species of worms in the class Nematoda (phylum Aschelminthes). Nematodes include plant and animal parasites and free-living forms found in soil, freshwater, saltwater, and even vinegar resistance, and herbicide herbicide (hr`bəsīd'), chemical compound that kills plants or inhibits their normal growth. A herbicide in a particular formulation and application can be described as selective or nonselective. tolerance, and their use to develop transgenic plants for the Crop Production Industry; and 2) the discovery of genes and proteins for use in the Chemical and Animal Feed Industries. For more information about Athenix, visit www.athenixcorp.com |
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