Kleiner Perkins Makes First Investment in Antibacterial Therapeutics From
its Biodefense and Pandemic Fund
SAN DIEGO, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Trius Therapeutics, Inc. today
announced the close of a $30 million Series B financing to advance the
clinical development of its best-in-class oxazolidinone antibacterial drug
TR-701, now completing Phase I testing. The financing was led by Kleiner,
Perkins, Caufield and Byers (KPCB). New investor FinTech Global Capital
participated in the round, along with all existing investors -- Sofinnova
Ventures, Versant Ventures, Interwest Partners and Prism VentureWorks.
"The excellent results from our ongoing Phase I trial, including data
confirming the potential for once-daily dosing, prompted us to raise this
round of financing earlier than initially planned to accelerate the
clinical development of TR-701," stated Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D., President and
CEO of Trius Therapeutics. "We are encouraged that KPCB has recognized our
potential and joined our strong investor group. The proceeds from this
financing will enable Trius to advance TR-701 through Phase II and into
Phase III development, and to continue to invest in our pre-clinical
programs."
In connection with the Series B investment, KPCB partner Risa Stack,
Ph.D. will join the Trius board. "Trius represents our first investment in
an antibacterial therapeutics company out of our Biodefense and Pandemic
Fund" said Dr. Stack. "It signifies not only our confidence in the Trius
programs and management, but also our concern over the growing unmet need
for effective new antibacterial therapies."
About Trius Therapeutics
Trius Therapeutics is discovering and developing innovative
antibacterial drugs for the treatment of infections caused by resistant
pathogens. The company's lead drug candidate, TR-701 is a novel, oral and
IV, oxazolidinone antibiotic with potent activity against drug-resistant
Gram-positive bacterial pathogens including those resistant to Zyvox(R).
Trius has licensed worldwide rights outside of Korea to TR-701 from Dong-A
Pharmaceuticals. Trius' pipeline includes two additional structure-based
drug design programs directed against novel antibacterial targets. For more
information, visit http://www.triusrx.com.
About KPCB
KPCB began investing in and helping build life sciences companies in
1977 when it was the founding investor in Genentech. Since then, the firm
and its Partners have backed entrepreneurs in 100 life science companies
working in every area of medicine, including cardiology, cancer, neurology,
immune system diseases, ophthalmology, and molecular diagnostics. Since its
founding in 1972, KPCB has backed entrepreneurs in over 475 ventures,
including AOL, Align Technology, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq Computers,
Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Google, IDEC Pharmaceuticals,
Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Lotus, LSI Logic, Sun Microsystems,
Symantec, Verisign and Xilinx. More than 150 of the firm's portfolio
companies have gone public. Many other ventures have achieved success
through mergers and acquisitions.
SOURCE Trius Therapeutics, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.triusrx.com
CONTACT:
Cathy Yarbrough of Trius Therapeutics, Inc.,
+1-858-243-1814, sciencematter@yahoo.com
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