SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Athenagen Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, announced today that A. Barr Dolan has joined its Board of Directors in conjunction with the closing of its Series A financing. In September 2005, Sanderling Ventures led the first tranche with participation from Life Science Angels, raising $3.19 million, and Sanderling also committed to invest an additional $2.5 million upon meeting certain milestones. Since then, the Company has met the required milestones and received the additional committed $2.5 million, as well as $2.0 million from new investor Charter Life Sciences, the first dedicated life sciences fund in the Charter Ventures family of venture capital funds.
“We have made great progress since receiving our initial funding last fall,” stated W. Scott Harkonen, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our two lead drug candidates are advancing through preclinical development, with clinical trials planned to begin later this year. In addition, we established a research facility and corporate headquarters in South San Francisco, and filled several key positions in research and development.”
“Charter Life Sciences is pleased to have the opportunity to be an early investor in Athenagen, a young company with a promising near-term clinical pipeline of compounds for treating age-related macular degeneration and non- healing wounds,” commented Mr. Dolan. “The company’s technology, focused on agents that target the nAChR pathway, could represent a novel class of drugs to treat diseases characterized by abnormal angiogenesis.”
About Athenagen
Athenagen Inc., located in South San Francisco, is engaged in the development of small-molecule drugs designed to either inhibit or enhance angiogenesis, based on the discovery of a new endothelial cell angiogenesis pathway, known as the nAChR pathway. Athenagen’s lead products are being developed as oral and topical compounds to treat diseases caused by enhanced angiogenesis, such as cancer and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as well as topical formulations to treat diseases caused by impaired angiogenesis, such as non-healing wounds. Athenagen plans to introduce two drug candidates into the clinic in 2006: ATG002, a topical pro-angiogenesis compound for diabetic foot ulcers and ATG001, an anti-angiogenesis compound, for exudative AMD. For more information: www.athenagen.com.
Athenagen Inc.
CONTACT: W. Scott Harkonen, M.D., President and CEO of Athenagen Inc.,+1-650-616-1920, or press@athenagen.com
Web site: http://www.athenagen.com/
