By E. Janene Geiss
Philadelphia, Dec. 27 - Perlegen Sciences, Inc. said it received a $50 million equity investment through a placement of preferred stock.
Pfizer Inc. was the investor and takes a 12% position in the private biotechnology company, according to a company news release.
Under the terms of the transaction, if Perlegen executes an initial public offering within the coming year, Pfizer has agreed to purchase - at Perlegen's election and subject to certain conditions - up to an additional $25 million of Perlegen stock, officials said.
With this newest investment, Pfizer joins Affymetrix, Maverick Capital, CSK Ventures, Eli Lilly and a number of other institutional and private investors in taking a significant ownership interest in Perlegen, officials said.
"Industry-wide, many new drugs have been discontinued in late-stage trials after hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested. Many times this results because a subset of patients responded differently from the rest," Brad Margus, co-founder and chief executive officer of Perlegen, said in the release.
"And as recent events have shown, even FDA-approved, marketed drugs can run into problems when a small number of patients have an unexpected response. Perlegen's comprehensive understanding of the genetic heterogeneity of human disease as well as our pharmacogenomics approach, searching for genetic markers that can be used to predict patient response, may address this enormous challenge. Drugs developed based on genetic information will be directed more specifically toward the patients who are most likely to benefit from them," Margus added.
Pfizer and Perlegen entered into their first research collaboration in December 2002, using Perlegen's DNA sample preparation, high resolution SNP genotyping and data-analysis capabilities to discover genes associated with common diseases and identify genetic markers that may predict patient response to medicines, officials said.
Perlegen analyzes genetic variations in DNA samples obtained from clinical trial participants, using the information to explain and predict the efficacy and adverse-effect profiles of prescription drugs.
Perlegen applies this expertise to discovering genetic variations associated with disease for potential new therapeutics and diagnostics, officials said.
The Mountain View, Calif., biotechnology company was formed in late 2000 as a spinoff from Affymetrix, Inc.
| Issuer: | Perlegen Sciences, Inc.
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| Issue: | Preferred stock
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| Amount: | $50 million
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| Investor: | Pfizer, Inc.
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| Announcement date: | Dec. 27
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