CalPERS Invests $285 Million in Biotechnology Funds; California Investment Firms Top The List.Business Editors SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 14, 2000 The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has approved five biotechnology investments totaling $285 million. The investments mark the first stream of capital to emerge from CalPERS $500 million California Biotechnology Program. The $285 million investment commitment will be shared by four California-based biotech bi·o·tech n. Informal Biotechnology. biotech Noun short for biotechnology Noun 1. investments funds and one domiciled dom·i·cile n. 1. A residence; a home. 2. One's legal residence. v. dom·i·ciled, dom·i·cil·ing, dom·i·ciles v.tr. 1. in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . They include: -- a $100 million investment in Palo Alto, California-based Prospect Venture Partners II, a venture capital firm that focuses exclusively on life science investments; -- a $100 million investment in South San Francisco, California-based, MPM Biotech Crossover Fund, L.P., a fund that makes both private and public investments in the biotechnology industry; -- a $25 million investment in Burrill Life Sciences Capital Partners, a fund sponsored by Burrill & Co., a San Francisco, California-based private merchant bank dedicated to life sciences through private equity investing, corporate partnering and commercial development; -- a $10 million investment in the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Seed Capital Fund that will create a biotechnology incubator at the UCSF Mission Bay campus; and -- a $50 million investment with EuclidSR, a partnership between New York-based Euclid partners and S.R. One, Limited, the venture capital arm of Smith Kline Beecham. The investment is expected to help CalPERS build profitable investment relationships with large pharmaceutical companies. "The biotechnology sector offers many compelling investment opportunities," said William D. Crist, President of CalPERS Board of Administration. "New technologies are allowing for the development of better and more cost-effective products and drugs. These advancements, backed by CalPERS capital, can produce significant returns for the Fund while addressing unmet un·met adj. Not satisfied or fulfilled: unmet demands. patients needs." CalPERS established its California Biotechnology Program in June of this year with an allocation The apportionment or designation of an item for a specific purpose or to a particular place. In the law of trusts, the allocation of cash dividends earned by a stock that makes up the principal of a trust for a beneficiary usually means that the dividends will be treated as of $500 million. The program capitalizes on the advent and convergence of new technologies in the California biotechnology industry. CalPERS expects to make other biotechnology investments with universities, institutions, and biotechnology companies Top 100 Biotechnology Companies The following is a list of the top 100 biotechnology companies ranked by revenue. The first nine companies qualify for the list of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies. early next year. "We are currently holding discussions with the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). system, the California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913–20. , the Novartis Institute of Functional Genomics Noun 1. functional genomics - the branch of genomics that determines the biological function of the genes and their products genomics - the branch of genetics that studies organisms in terms of their genomes (their full DNA sequences) , and come biotechnology companies about investment opportunities," said Michael Flaherman, Chair of the Fund's Investment Committee. CalPERS is the nation's largest public pension funds with assets totaling approximately $170 billion. The System provides retirement and health benefits to more than 1.2 million state and local public employees and their families. For further information on CalPERS, please visit the System's web site at www.calpers.ca.gov. |
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