CombiChem Inc. completes $2.2 million seed financing; appoints Robert A. Curtis as president and CEO.LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 1995--CombiChem Inc. Thursday released the following two statements: CombiChem Inc. Completes $2.2 Million Seed Financing CombiChem Inc., a newly established combinatorial chemistry company, Thursday announced it has received $2.2 million in a financing led by Forward Ventures and Sequoia Capital. CombiChem was founded in 1994 to apply combinatorial chemistry to improve the productivity and decrease the cost of drug discovery. The company's founding scientific advisory board includes Drs. Sydney Brenner, Dale L. Boger Dale Lester Boger is an American medicinal and organic chemist. Dale Boger was born on August 22, 1953, in Hutchinson, Kansas. He studied chemistry at the University of Kansas (B.S., 1975), Ph.D. 1980, Harvard University, under Professor E. J. Corey). , Kim D. Janda and Chi-Huey Wong, all of The Scripps Research Institute. CombiChem is focusing its activities on the creation of libraries of diverse classes of low-molecular-weight molecules to be developed as pharmaceutical products. In addition to its focus on small molecules, CombiChem's attributes include its proprietary methods for producing novel chemical samples in larger quantities, for identifying compounds through its proprietary technologies, including recursive See recursion. recursive - recursion deconvolution In mathematics, deconvolution is an algorithm-based process used to reverse the effects of convolution on recorded data.[1] The concept of deconvolution is widely used in the techniques of signal processing and image processing. compatible with existing assay formats, and the strength of its scientific leadership. Working through a variety of collaborations and alliances, the company plans to offer customized combinatorial chemistry services and products, to license its automated compound synthesis systems and to transfer technology to pharmaceutical companies. "Every company engaging in drug discovery will have to have combinatorial chemistry to remain competitive," said Ivor Royston, M.D., chairman of CombiChem's board of directors and general partner of Forward Ventures. "We therefore expect that CombiChem's user-friendly and cost-effective technology to identify and optimize new pharmaceuticals will prove particularly attractive to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies." Peter A. Bick, general partner in Sequoia Capital, added, "There is clearly a huge opportunity emerging from this new approach to health science investing, as CombiChem offers a revenue model more akin to a service or software business than a traditional biotechnology investment." CombiChem's automated synthesis systems will be uniquely able to generate larger quantities of sample compounds, which facilitates comprehensive and efficient screening and archiving of material. The company has also developed rapid methods for identifying active compounds in its libraries, ranging from large-scale spatial address methods (one compound/one vial) to deconvolution methods for mixtures of compounds as published recently in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 91, November 1994. CombiChem's technology is also compatible with existing assay formats, and the company's libraries can be synthesized and assayed in solid phase or in solution. CombiChem's founding scientific advisory board includes Sydney Brenner, Ph.D.; Dale L. Boger, Ph.D.; Kim D. Janda, Ph.D.; and Chi-Huey Wong, Ph.D. Brenner is one of the principal founders of modern molecular genetics molecular genetics n. The branch of genetics that deals with hereditary transmission and variation on the molecular level. , and among his significant contributions to the field are the proof of the triplet triplet /trip·let/ (trip´let) 1. one of three offspring produced at one birth. 2. a combination of three objects or entities acting together, as three lenses or three nucleotides. 3. nature of the genetic code with F.H.C. Crick Crick , Francis Henry Compton 1916-2004. British biologist who with James D. Watson proposed a spiral model, the double helix, for the molecular structure of DNA. He shared a 1962 Nobel Prize for advances in the study of genetics. , Ph.D., the discovery of messenger RNA mes·sen·ger RNA n. See mRNA. , and work on chain termination in protein synthesis and its suppression. Brenner is an Honorary Professor of Genetic Medicine at the University of Cambridge. Boger is internationally recognized for his work in organic synthesis, heterocyclic heterocyclic /het·ero·cyc·lic/ (het?er-o-sik´lik) having a closed chain or ring formation including atoms of different elements. het·er·o·cy·clic adj. chemistry, natural products total synthesis and biological evaluation, synthetic methodology development, medicinal and bio-organic chemistry, and has made substantial seminal contributions to the understanding of DNA-Agent interactions and naturally occurring antitumor antibiotics. Boger is currently the Richard and Alice Cramer Professor of Chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute. Janda's research group at Scripps was the first to demonstrate the feasibility of encoded chemical libraries and most recently published the proof of principle of CombiChem's deconvolution approach to combinatorial library combinatorial library in immunology, the ligation of cDNAs of light and heavy chains of immunoglobulins, each in a separate bacteriophage vector. management. His laboratory has played a key role in the field of catalytic antibodies. He is currently an associate professor of molecular biology molecular biology, scientific study of the molecular basis of life processes, including cellular respiration, excretion, and reproduction. The term molecular biology was coined in 1938 by Warren Weaver, then director of the natural sciences program at the Rockefeller and chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute. Wong's work on the use of enzymes in organic synthesis and on enzyme inhibition has received worldwide scientific recognition. He is currently the Ernest W. Hahn Professor of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute. Among CombiChem's board of directors are board chairman Ivor Royston, M.D., and Peter A. Bick, M.D. Royston is a general partner in Forward Ventures and founder, 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 the San Diego Regional Cancer Center. He is a founder of Hybritech Inc. and IDEC IDEC Instituto Brasileiro de Defesa do Consumidor (Portugese: Brazilian Consumer Protection Agency) IDEC Information Design & End-User Computing IDEC Interior Design Educators Council, Inc. Pharmaceuticals Inc., and is a founder/investor in a number of other private and public companies. Royston is adjunct professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego UCSD is consistently ranked among the top ten public universities for undergraduate education in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.[3] It is a Public Ivy. [1] For graduate studies, most of UCSD's Ph.D. School of Medicine. Bick is a general partner in Sequoia Capital. His venture capital background also includes experience with Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. As the former president of Quintiles Quintiles Transnational Corp. is a contract research organization which serves the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare industries. History Quintiles was founded in 1982 by Dennis Gillings and as of 2007 it has 18,000 employees. , one of the world's largest contract research organizations, he is an expert in developing and commercializing services for the pharmaceutical industry. Bick has extensive management experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including drug development and licensing positions at Bristol-Myers and Pfizer Inc. He holds an M.D. from The Royal Free Hospital, University of London For most practical purposes, ranging from admission of students to negotiating funding from the government, the 19 constituent colleges are treated as individual universities. Within the university federation they are known as Recognised Bodies and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. CombiChem, with headquarters in La Jolla, is a molecular discovery company integrating combinatorial chemistry with computational drug design, bioinformatics and automated chemical synthesis to identify, optimize and enable broader patent protection for new pharmaceuticals. The company is designing and synthesizing libraries of low-molecular-weight, drug-like molecules in formats that are compatible with the full spectrum of assay methods. CombiChem Appoints Robert A. Curtis as President and CEO Robert A. Curtis, Pharm.D., has been appointed president, chief executive officer and director of CombiChem Inc., a newly formed combinatorial company based in La Jolla. CombiChem was founded in 1994 to used advanced combinatorial chemistry to improve the productivity and economics of the drug discovery process. The company's founding scientific advisory board includes Drs. Sydney Brenner, Dale L. Boger, Kim D. Janda and Chi-Huey Wong, all of The Scripps Research Institute. Ivor Royston, M.D., chairman of CombiChem's board of directors, commented: "We have recruited Dr. Curtis for his thorough understanding of the process of developing business collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies, his extensive experience in leading small companies through the critical steps of product and business development, and his specific knowledge of the emerging field of combinatorial chemistry. "Because we can rapidly develop large arrays of potential novel pharmaceutical compounds, finding the right collaborators is an important part of our growth strategy. Few CEOs in development-stage companies have Dr. Curtis' expertise in this area." Curtis' career spans more than 10 years in senior management positions in international pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms. He was most recently vice president, corporate development and business operations at Pharmacopeia pharmacopeia /phar·ma·co·pe·ia/ (-ko-pe´ah) an authoritative treatise on drugs and their preparations. See also USP. pharmacopei´al United States Pharmacopeia see under U. Inc., a drug discovery company. Previously, he was vice president, business development at Cambridge Neuroscience Inc. Earlier, Curtis held positions as director of licensing and development and associate director of clinical research, International Pharmaceuticals Group at Pfizer Inc., and was an assistant professor, College of Pharmacy A college of pharmacy generally refers to a tertiary educational institution (or part of such an institution) which is involved in the education of future pharmacists and pharmaconomists. at the University of Illinois University of Illinois may refer to:
CombiChem is a molecular discovery company integrating combinatorial chemistry with computational drug design, bioinformatics and automated chemical synthesis to identify, optimize and enable broader patent protection for new pharmaceuticals. The company is designing and synthesizing libraries of low-molecular-weight, drug-like molecules in formats that are compatible with the full spectrum of assay methods. CONTACT: CombiChem Inc., La Jolla Robert A. Curtis, 619/453-8090 or Keatinge/Seaton Communications Richard W. Keatinge, 619/625-2100 (media contact) or Feinstein Partners Inc. Marcia A. Kean, 617/577-8110 (investor relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. contact) |
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