Pacific Biosciences Raises Additional $68 Million in Financing

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pacific Biosciences, a private company pioneering the development of a transformative DNA sequencing technology, announced today it has raised an additional $68 million in financing.

The current financing comes from a combination of new and previous investors, including strategic investments from Monsanto and the Wellcome Trust. Sutter Hill Ventures joins the list of the company’s institutional investors, many of which also contributed additional capital to this latest financing round.

“We are excited to be part of investing in a new generation of DNA sequencing technology that has the power to unlock how inheritance and environmental factors affect human health,” said Bill Castell, Chairman of the Board of Governors for the Wellcome Trust.

Previous investors include: Deerfield Management, Intel Capital (Intel Corporation’s global investment organization), Morgan Stanley, Redmile Group, T. Rowe Price, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Alloy Ventures, Maverick Capital, AllianceBernstein, DAG Ventures, Teachers’ Private Capital, and Blackstone Cleantech Venture Partners.

“The fact that we have been able to raise a total of $188 million since last summer, during a very difficult economic market, is further validation of our business and the promise of our disruptive technology platform,” said Hugh Martin, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Biosciences. “We are delighted a global leader in agricultural biotech and premier trust for healthcare are joining our growing list of supporters by making strategic investments in our company.”

Pacific Biosciences plans to launch the commercial version of its SMRT™ (single molecule real time) Sequencing System in the second half of 2010.

About Pacific Biosciences

Pacific Biosciences is a private company based in Menlo Park, California. The company was founded in 2004 with the goal of developing a transformative SMRT™ (single molecule real time) DNA sequencing system that will become the new gold standard for genetic analysis. The company has received an Advanced Sequencing Technology Award grant from the NHGRI (National Human Genome Research Institute) to develop the $1,000 genome. More information is available at www.pacificbiosciences.com.

Contact:

For Pacific Biosciences Nicole Litchfield, 415-945-9905 nicole@bioscribe.com