PALO ALTO, Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. , a leading specialty finance company providing venture capital and private equity backed technology and life science companies with debt and equity growth capital, announced on March 29, 2006 it provided $15.0 million of debt financing to AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer medicines.
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“AVEO is developing a pipeline of targeted therapies which address major unmet medical needs in the field of oncology. The company utilizes its proprietary in vivo cancer models for the identification and validation of novel drug targets and to guide the development of its products,” said Parag Shah, managing director of Hercules.
“By applying AVEO’s proprietary MaSS Screen technology to its genetically-defined cancer models, genes that are essential for tumor maintenance and recurrence can be discovered and their function validated in vivo in a relevant setting. Unique insights provided by AVEO’s Human Response Prediction Platform could be invaluable to the clinical development of therapeutics that targets these genes,” said Shah.
AVEO is guided by strong scientific leadership and an experienced management team from many established leading biotech companies. The company’s platform lowers the risk and improves the outcome of the drug development process.
“Prominent life science venture capital firms, including MPM Capital, Highland Capital, Venrock Associates, Prospect Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures, Oxford BioScience Partners and Greylock, along with a solid partnership with Merck, have supported AVEO. We are pleased that Hercules is now part of our growth financing,” said Tuan Ha-Ngoc, AVEO’s president and CEO.
About Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc.:
Founded in December 2003, Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. is a NASDAQ traded specialty finance company providing debt and equity growth capital to technology-related companies at all stages of development. The company primarily finances privately-held companies backed by leading venture capital and private equity firms and also may finance certain publicly-traded companies. Hercules focuses its investments in companies active in technology and technology-related industries such as computer software and hardware, networking systems, semiconductors, semiconductor capital equipment, information technology infrastructure, Internet consumer and business services, telecommunications, and life sciences. The company’s investments are originated through its principal office located in Silicon Valley, as well as additional offices in the Boston, Boulder and Chicago areas. Providing capital to publicly traded or privately held companies backed by leading venture capital and private equity firms involves a high degree of credit risk and may result in potential losses of capital.
For more information, please visit http://www.htgc.com . Companies interested in learning more about financing opportunities should contact info@htgc.com or call 650-289-3060.
About AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc.:
AVEO is a private biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer therapeutics. The company utilizes its proprietary, genetically-defined cancer models for the identification and validation of novel cancer targets, and has begun to build an impressive portfolio of drug discovery programs around these high-value targets. AVEO also leverages its Human Response Prediction platform to allow for the identification of genetic profiles that correspond with patient responsiveness. AVEO’s lead development program, AV-412, a novel multiple kinase inhibitor, is expected to begin clinical trials in 2006. AVEO is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit the company’s website at http://www.aveopharma.com .
Forward-Looking Statements:
The statements contained in this release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, which involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by their use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “should,” “would,” “will,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” and similar words, and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expectations, intentions or strategies of Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. For these statements, Hercules claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You should be aware that Hercules’ actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties affecting its business. Factors that may cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements include Hercules’ limited operating history as a business development company, the extent to which Hercules incurs debt to fund its investments, fluctuations in interest rates, the concentration of Hercules’ investments in a limited number of emerging-growth or expansion stage technology-related companies, the illiquid nature of the securities Hercules’ holds, the highly competitive market for investment opportunities in which Hercules operates and others discussed in Hercules’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as of the date hereof, and Hercules assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements for subsequent events.
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CONTACT: Sally Borg, +1-650-289-3066, or sborg@htgc.com, or Main,+1-650-289-3060, or info@herculestech.com, both of Hercules TechnologyGrowth Capital, Inc.; or Tuan Ha-Ngoc, President and CEO of AVEOPharmaceuticals, Inc., thangoc@aveopharma.com; or Diane Perry of NoonanRusso, +1-212-845-4239, or diane.perry@eurorscg.com, for AVEOPharmaceuticals, Inc.
