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Biotech Omeros gets $20M Vulcan investment, $5M state grant

Seattle Times business staff Seattle biotechnology company Omeros plans to announce Monday a $20 million investment from Paul Allen's Vulcan...

Seattle Times business staff

Seattle biotechnology company Omeros plans to announce Monday a $20 million investment from Paul Allen's Vulcan Capital and a $5 million grant from a state biotechnology-research fund.

The financing will help Omeros advance its research on what are known as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) — a key family of proteins that guides cells' responses to nearby molecules and forms the basis for many modern pharmaceuticals.

Omeros says it uses a proprietary high-throughput system to identify small molecules that can activate or disable GPCRs, unlocking them to drug development.

If the program generates revenues that exceed its research and development and commercialization costs — a rare thing in biotechnology — Vulcan and the state's Life Sciences Discovery Fund would get a percentage "in the midteens" on the first $1.5 billion of net proceeds, the company said. Vulcan also receives five-year warrants to purchase 400,000 shares of Omeros common stock at prices between $20 and $40 per share.

Omeros also said it will pay about $10.6 million in cash and stock to acquire GPCR-assessment technology from Patobios Limited, a Canadian company.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2013235771_btomeros25.html