Ceregene Announces $32 Million Series B Financing

05-Aug-2004

San Diego - Ceregene, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders using gene therapy, announced the initial closing of a $32 million Series B preferred stock financing.

The syndicate was co-led by Alta Partners and MPM Capital and also included Hamilton-Apex Technology Ventures and California Technology Ventures. Cell Genesys Inc. (Nasdaq: CEGE), which launched Ceregene as a majority owned subsidiary in 2001, also participated in the financing by converting their previous bridge loan into Series B shares and will own approximately 25% of the company. In connection with the financing, David Mack, Ph.D., a director at Alta Partners and Dennis Henner, Ph.D., a general partner at MPM Capital, will join Ceregene's board of directors. In addition, Jeffrey M. Ostrove, Ph.D., Ceregene's president since joining the company in April 2001, has been elected to the additional position of chief executive officer.

Proceeds from this round of financing will be used to advance Ceregene's lead product candidates including CERE-120 for Parkinson's disease as well as CERE-130 for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease and CERE-110 for Alzheimer's disease.

Expanding the optogenetics toolkit

Read news

"We appreciate the fact that these premier venture capital firms, through their investment, support the potential of our products to treat these devastating neurodegenerative diseases," stated Dr. Ostrove. "We are excited about the progress we are making using gene therapy to deliver nervous system growth factors and look forward to working closely with our new board members."

"Compelling science coupled with the strength and experience of Ceregene's management team make the company an exciting investment," said Dr. Mack, a director at Alta Partners. "The potential of gene therapies to not only treat the symptoms of neurological disorders but to prevent the progression of these incurable diseases is hopeful. Ceregene is becoming an important player in this field, with multiple clinical programs in different disease areas planned for this coming year."

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to invest in Ceregene-a company with exciting product candidates and excellent leadership," said Dr. Henner, a partner at MPM Capital. "In addition to these attributes, our investment decision was influenced by the large unmet medical needs in the diseases that Ceregene is targeting, as well as the potential that we believe exists for gene therapies to significantly improve the standards of care in these disease areas."

Ceregene has an active clinical program in Alzheimer's disease (CERE-110) and is planning to initiate several additional clinical trials during the coming year, including trials in Parkinson's disease (CERE-120) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease (CERE-130) which is expected to be initiated during 2005.

Ceregene's in vivo gene therapies utilize non-replicating viral vectors to deliver therapeutic genes to the nervous system, where they express proteins with the ability to prevent neurodegeneration and restore normal nerve function. The adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector is an important gene delivery tool which has a demonstrated ability to efficiently and stably express genetic information in non-dividing target cells, such as the neurons degenerating in Parkinson's disease, ALS and Alzheimer's disease, and to achieve potentially long-term, therapeutic benefit.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/38938/ceregene-announces-32-million-series-b-financing.html