Conforma Therapeutics Corporation Closes $30 Million Financing.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 2003 Conforma Therapeutics Corporation announced today the closing of a $30 million private placement of its Series C stock. The round was led by S.R. One, Limited and included new investors Lilly BioVentures, Novo A/S, RBC RBC red blood cell. RBC or rbc abbr. red blood cell RBC, n See red blood cell count. RBC red blood cells; red blood (cell) count (see blood count). Capital Partners and RiverVest Venture Partners. Also participating were existing investors Domain Associates, Forward Ventures, Inglewood Ventures and ProQuest Investments. Conforma plans to use the funds to continue the development of its portfolio of small molecule oncology drugs. These drugs, directed to the HSP (Hosting Service Provider) An organization that specializes in hosting Web sites. There are various levels of offerings from sharing a Web server with several other companies to having a dedicated Web server or to providing co-location services. See co-location. 90 family of cellular chaperones, exploit specific molecular differences that distinguish cancer from normal tissues and induce the targeted destruction of cancer-causing proteins. "We are gratified grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. that our approach to cancer therapy has gained the support and confidence of this very sophisticated group of investors," said Lawrence C. Fritz, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Conforma. "We will apply these new financial resources to build our clinical capabilities and advance our first drug candidates to human testing, as well as continue to build our product pipeline." "Conforma's technology represents a fundamentally new approach to cancer therapy - the targeted destruction of deregulated signaling proteins," said Maxine Gowen, Ph.D., partner with S.R. One. "We believe that this approach, driven by Conforma's experienced management team, will successfully deliver important new drugs to cancer patients." "Conforma has established a leadership position in one of the most promising and exciting areas of oncology," noted Stuart Collinson, Ph.D. of Forward Ventures and chairman of Conforma's board of directors. "I look forward to working with our new investors, all of whom bring important skills and experience to the Company." About Conforma Therapeutics Conforma Therapeutics, a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company, is focused on the design and development of novel drugs for the selective treatment of cancer. Conforma is developing drugs that target the cellular HSP90 family of molecular "chaperones" that control protein shape or conformation con·for·ma·tion n. One of the spatial arrangements of atoms in a molecule that can come about through free rotation of the atoms about a single chemical bond. , including that of key signaling molecules signaling molecules substances synthesized by cells for purposes of extracellular communication between cells. involved in the growth and survival of tumor tumor: see neoplasm. cells. HSP90-directed drugs selectively induce the degradation of these cancer-promoting proteins, leading to tumor cell death. In addition to cancer, Conforma's technology also promises to have applications in other areas of medicine, including inflammation, virology virology, study of viruses and their role in disease. Many viruses, such as animal RNA viruses and viruses that infect bacteria, or bacteriophages, have become useful laboratory tools in genetic studies and in work on the cellular metabolic control of gene expression , and central nervous system disorders Nervous system disorders A satisfactory classification of diseases of the nervous system should include not only the type of reaction (congenital malformation, infection, trauma, neoplasm, vascular diseases, and degenerative, metabolic, toxic, or deficiency . Additional information regarding Conforma is available at www.conformacorp.com. |
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