MENLO PARK, CA--(Marketwire - May 06, 2009) - InterWest Partners, a leading diversified
venture capital firm, is celebrating its 30th anniversary by announcing the
first four investments from its tenth fund, InterWest X. The first
investments include lead participation in a $15 million Series B financing
for Exalt Communications, a leading provider of high performance licensed
and license-exempt microwave radio systems for wireless backhaul
applications. InterWest X's first investments also include the following
three life science companies, all co-led by InterWest: a $7.1 million
Series A for Eiger BioPharmaceuticals -- a start-up biotechnology company
that InterWest helped to form -- which is developing antiviral therapies; a
$36 million Series A for Lycera, which is developing novel small-molecule
pharmaceuticals to treat autoimmune diseases; and a $20 million Series B in
Autonomic Technologies Inc. which is developing a small, implantable
medical device to treat severe headache. Together, the investments
demonstrate InterWest's ongoing commitment to supporting outstanding life
sciences and IT entrepreneurs and fostering the growth of new companies.
"Since 1979, the foundation of InterWest's success has remained consistent:
we seek to build winning companies by combining our deep domain experience
with the vision of exceptional entrepreneurs," said Dr. Arnold L. Oronsky,
general partner at InterWest. "As both investors and partners, our aim is
to continue working collaboratively with our portfolio companies to build
thriving businesses that produce products and services that change the way
we live and work. We are very pleased to begin investing our tenth fund
with these promising companies."
Since raising $33.7 million for its first fund in 1979, InterWest has
raised more than $2.8 billion of capital and played a formative role in the
success of more than 200 companies. InterWest X, a $650 million fund, is
expected to invest in a total of approximately 30-40 new life sciences and
IT companies. Investments will focus primarily on early-stage companies in
the United States, with select investments in later-stage opportunities and
abroad.
"As InterWest celebrates its 30th anniversary, we believe we have the
talent and the strategy to ensure another 30 years of success," said
Oronsky. "I am particularly heartened to know that we have a
multi-generational team of partners, with strong investment performance
records, who are poised to build on InterWest's past success. In addition,
we have three decades of experience navigating varied market conditions and
will rely on this experience to manage through the current downturn and
continue to deliver value."
InterWest's team includes ten general partners: Berry Cash, Chris Ehrlich,
Philip Gianos, Stephen Holmes, Nina Kjellson, Dr. Gil Kliman, Dr. Arnold
Oronsky, Doug Pepper, Tom Rosch and Michael Sweeney. The team also includes
three partners: Bruce Cleveland, Dr. Linda Grais, and Khaled Nasr.
Consultants and executives-in-residence include: Dr. James Campbell,
Charline Gauthier, Drew Hoffmann, Dr. Susan Knox, Ron Nash, and Gordon
Saul.
InterWest is also pleased to add a new principal to its investing team, Dr.
Doug Fisher. Fisher will focus on biopharmaceutical and diagnostics
investments. Prior to joining InterWest, he was a vice president at New
Leaf Venture Partners. Earlier he was part of The Boston Consulting Group's
Health Care Practice Area, consulting for leading pharmaceutical and
biotech companies. Fisher received an A.B. in economics and a B.S. in
biology from Stanford University where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He has
an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an
M.B.A. from Wharton where he graduated with honors as a Palmer Scholar and
a Siebel Scholar.
About InterWest Partners
InterWest Partners (www.interwest.com), founded in 1979, is a leading
diversified venture capital firm focused on building long-term
relationships with entrepreneurs and portfolio companies. Currently
investing its tenth fund, InterWest X, a $650 million fund, InterWest has
raised more than $2.8 billion of capital since inception. InterWest has a
total of 13 partners and general partners in Menlo Park, CA and Dallas, TX,
who bring together deep domain knowledge in life sciences and information
technology.
The firm's past successful investments in life sciences include:
ArthroCare, Aspreva Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Galenica group), Cor
Therapeutics (acquired by Millennium Pharmaceuticals), Corixa
Pharmaceuticals (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline), Coulter Pharmaceuticals
(acquired by Corixa Pharmaceuticals), Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Epicor
Medical (acquired by St. Jude Medical), Inspire Pharmaceuticals, IntraLase
(acquired by Advanced Medical Optics), Myogen (acquired by Gilead),
NovaCardia (acquired by Merck) Spinal Dynamics (acquired by Medtronic),
TheraSense (acquired by Abbott Labs) and Ventritex (acquired by St. Jude
Medical).
The firm's past successful investments in information technology include:
CIENA, Copper Mountain Networks, Crystal Semiconductor (acquired by Cirrus
Logic), Cyrix (acquired by National Semiconductor), Lightera (acquired by
CIENA), PlaceWare (acquired by Microsoft), SiTera (acquired by Vitesse),
Silicon Graphics, Stratacom (acquired by Cisco) and Xilinx.
