Inviragen Merges with
SingVax and
Completes $15 million Series A Financing
Fort Collins,
Co, Madison, Wi, Singapore, October 6, 2009
Inviragen and SingVax have merged their complementary vaccine
pipelines and their international product development capabilities to create
a company that is developing a wide range of vaccines for infectious diseases
prevalent in emerging economies. Concurrently with the merger, the combined
company raised $15 million in a Series A equity investment from a syndicate
of international venture capital investors, including Charter Life Sciences
(Palo Alto, CA), Venture Investors (Madison, WI), Bio*One Capital (Singapore)
and Phillip Private Equity (Singapore).
The combined company will retain the Inviragen name and
will have research and corporate operations in Fort Collins, Colorado, vaccine
development operations in Singapore and vaccine testing capabilities in Madison,
Wisconsin. “Post-merger,
Inviragen has three vaccines poised to begin human clinical trials,” noted
Dr. Dan Stinchcomb, Inviragen Chief Executive Officer. “During the next
18 months, these clinical studies will test vaccine safety and measure the
immune responses induced by these three vaccines to establish “proof-of-
concept” of their efficacy.”
Inviragen’s lead vaccine is designed to protect against dengue fever,
a mosquito- borne disease that threatens 3.6 billion people who live in tropical
and subtropical regions around the globe. Thirty-six million cases of dengue
fever are thought to occur per year worldwide. The most severe form of the
disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever, leads to the deaths of approximately 20,000
people annually. Both the number of reported cases and the number of countries
affected have been on the rise, and the disease could continue to spread due
to increasing urbanization, international travel and global warming. Dengue
is a major risk for international travelers: traveler’s cases of dengue
outnumber malaria for every continent except Africa. Human clinical testing
of Inviragen’s dengue
vaccine is expected to commence in 2010 in the U.S., Colombia, and Singapore.
Inviragen’s second vaccine is designed to protect against hand, foot
and mouth disease (HFMD). Large epidemics of HFMD have plagued children in
Asia for the last twenty years. Notably, a major outbreak is underway this
year in China, with over 700,000 cases reported through July. There have also
been yearly outbreaks of HFMD among children in Singapore; 2008 was the worst
epidemic year to date with over 29,000 cases, which represents more than 9%
of the estimated susceptible population.
The third Inviragen vaccine protects against Japanese encephalitis, a mosquito-borne
virus that causes 35,000 to 50,000 severe clinical cases and kills 10,000 to
15,000 children throughout Asia every year.
Inviragen is also developing vaccines to protect against other important infectious
diseases, including chikungunya, HPV, West Nile and influenza.
“Inviragen’s lead vaccine product candidates have the potential
to make a significant impact on the health and well-being of billions of people
worldwide,” said Mr. Fred Schwarzer, Managing Partner of Charter Life
Sciences. “We are pleased to have brought together a group of experienced
international investors to enable the development of these important products.”
“Venture Investors was impressed with Inviragen’s vision of building
an international vaccine development company and the experience and complementary
skills of their management team,” said Mr. John Neis of Venture Investors. “The
Series A equity financing will fund the Phase 1 and 2 clinical testing of Inviragen’s
lead vaccines and fund company operations well into 2012.”
Dr. Duane Gubler, Director of the Duke/National University of Singapore Program
in Emerging Infectious Diseases and a founding advisor to Inviragen, stated, “Inviragen
and SingVax are technical innovators in vaccine development. We look forward
to productive collaborations to study dengue, HFMD, Japanese encephalitis,
chikungunya and other emerging infectious diseases.”
“Singapore is an ideal geographical base for Inviragen’s vaccine
development efforts,” noted Dr. Joseph Santangelo, Chief Operating Officer. “We
have easy access to the growing economies and manufacturing capabilities of
greater Asia, and we have access to world-class infectious disease and biotechnology
research in Singapore.”
“We believe we are investing in a portfolio of vaccines that has the
potential to make significant contributions to global public health,” commented
Mr. Alex Koo, Director, Phillip Private Equity. “We also believe in the
impressive and experienced team led by Dr. Stinchcomb and Dr. Santangelo.”
Ms. Chu Swee Yeok, Chief Executive Officer, Bio*One Capital of EDB Investments
commented, “We are excited about Inviragen’s efforts and progress
in addressing important diseases not only prevalent in Singapore and Asia but
increasingly prevalent in countries globally. Inviragen’s integrated
international R&D capabilities through operations in the United States
and Singapore will position it well to drive the successful clinical and commercial
development of these needed vaccines.”
Contacts:
Inviragen:
Dr. Dan Stinchcomb, +1.970.372.4754
SingVax:
Dr. Joseph Santangelo, +65.6773.8527
Charter Life Sciences:
Mr. Fred Schwarzer, +1.650.325.6953
Venture Investors:
Mr. John Neis, +1.608.441.2700
Bio*One Capital:
Dr. Su Ling Yeo, +65.6832.6303
About Inviragen and SingVax
Inviragen was founded to develop life-saving vaccines to protect against emerging
infectious diseases worldwide. Inviragen’s product candidates included
a vaccine to protect against dengue fever for global markets, a vaccine to
protect against West Nile, a vaccine to protect against chikungunya, a vaccine
against avian- (H5N1) and swine-origin (H1N1) influenza and a combination plague
and smallpox vaccine for biodefense. Inviragen had offices in Fort Collins,
Colorado and Madison, Wisconsin. Please see www.inviragen.com for more details.
SingVax was founded as a vaccine development company focused on developing
vaccines for infectious diseases prevalent in the Asia Pacific region. SingVax’s
product candidates included an Enterovirus 71 (EV71) vaccine for the prevention
of HFMD in children, a Japanese encephalitis vaccine and a chikungunya virus
vaccine. SingVax received investments from Bio*One Capital, a leading fund
management company for biomedical sciences and was headquartered in Singapore.
Please visit www.singvax.com for more details.
About Charter Life Sciences
Charter Life Sciences (“CLS”) is a life sciences venture capital
firm with offices in Palo Alto, California and Cincinnati, Ohio. CLS focuses
on providing the initial venture capital to companies that are developing innovative
products for significant unmet medical needs. The CLS team draws on its extensive
medical, operational and start-up company experience to work collaboratively
with its portfolio companies to develop their clinical, operational and financing
strategies. For additional information on CLS, please visit www.clsvc.com.
About Venture Investors
Venture Investors is a venture capital firm with more than $200 million under
management. The firm invests in seed and early-stage life science and technology
companies in the Midwest, with a primary focus on opportunities that spin out
of the region’s leading research institutions. Formed in 1982, Venture
Investors has offices strategically located in Madison, Wisconsin and Ann Arbor,
Michigan next to the third and fifth largest research institutions in the United
States. For additional information on the firm, visit www.ventureinvestors.com.
About Bio*One Capital Pte Ltd
EDB Investments’ subsidiary Bio*One Capital is a leading, biomedical
sciences dedicated investment management company in Asia with a global presence.
Investments are focused on promising and innovative international biomedical
companies where Bio*One Capital can play a value-adding role in bridging and
supporting growth strategies in Asia through Singapore. Bio*One Capital oversees
a portfolio of over 50 companies in the U.S., Europe, Singapore and Asia. For
more information, please visit www.bio1capital.com.
About Phillip Private Equity
Phillip Private Equity is a private equity firm with more than $250 million
under management. The firm focuses on providing early stage, expansion stage,
mezzanine and pre-IPO funding to outstanding and pioneering companies in Asia
and the US. Established since 1993, Phillip Private Equity has a track record
of more than 16 years in managing proprietary and 3rd party funds. Phillip
Private Equity is also part of the Phillip Capital Group, comprising a group
of companies which offers a full range of quality and innovative financial
services to retail, corporate and institutional customers. The Group has offices
in Singapore, United Kingdom, France, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Australia,
Malaysia and Indonesia. For additional information on the firm, visit http://www.phillip.com.sg.
CONTACT:
Ted Rossman/Lisa Kelaita
New Venture Communications
(650) 343-2735
trossman@newventurecom.com
lkelaita@newventurecom.com
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