Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Does anyone remember Avigenics, the chicken company?
They have a new name and a new HQ location in Massachusetts,
presumably to be closer to center of the biotech universe :- )
The company just raised $30M from the Baker Brothers, who
are among the preeminent investors in biotech private equity.
Cluck, cluck!

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/04/13/daily48.html

›Synageva BioPharma Raises $30M

April 16, 2009
by Julie M. Donnelly

Synageva BioPharma, a privately held biotechnology company, has announced a $30 million private equity financing. The financing was led by the New York-based private equity firm Baker Brothers Investments. Synageva’s Chairman of the Board, Felix Baker, is a managing partner at Baker Brothers.

Other investors include Connecticut-based Tullis Dickerson and New York-based Four Partners. As part of the transaction, Synageva announced that Robyn Samuels, a vice president with Tisch Family Interests, has joined its board of directors representing Four Partners.

Synageva launched with a new corporate headquarters in Waltham, Mass., in September 2008. At the same time it announced the appointment of CEO Sanj Patel, who was previously the head of sales and marketing at Genzyme Corp.

The company was previously called Avigenics and was based in Atlanta. The company plans to maintain research and production operations in Atlanta, where 40 of the company’s 50 employees work.

As a result of the financing, Synageva plans to fill a handful of new positions in Waltham, both in top level management and in business development.

Synageva currently has two drug targets in Phase 1 clinical trials and one drug candidate in a Phase 2 trial. [Four years ago, the company reportedly had an interferon trial in phase-1, so I presume this is the one now in phase-2.]

The new money will be used to fund preclinical programs and to help form strategic partnerships for the targets already in trials. The company focuses on several therapeutic areas, including oncology, organ dysfunction, autoimmune diseases and rare disorders.‹