EMERYVILLE, Calif., April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- ProGenTech, a life
sciences company based in Shanghai, China and Emeryville, CA developing a
contamination free, cassette based automated nucleic acid purification
system, announced today that it has closed a $21 million Series C financing
led by Bay City Capital (San Francisco) and DT Capital (Shanghai).
"We are very impressed by the technical achievements the ProGenTech
team has accomplished to date. This round of financing gives us a unique
opportunity to integrate the value of the enhanced ProGenTech management
team, Bay City Capital's life sciences expertise and DT Capital's local
know-how. We are excited to work with ProGenTech in establishing itself as
a key player in its field," said Joe Tian, Founding Managing Partner at DT
Capital.
The key advantage of ProGenTech's automated system is that it
eliminates the possibilities of user exposure and cross-contamination by
virtue of its unique cassette-based approach. The company's initial
products have applications in both research and medical diagnostics.
ProGenTech was founded by Steve Yu and Jesus Ching, engineers with
extensive experience in biotechnology instrumentation companies. Steve Yu
will remain a director of the company and become its President and COO.
Jesus Ching will become the Chief Scientific Officer of ProGenTech.
Previous funding was obtained from angel investors, led by David Hu, who
remains a director of the company. The investment by Bay City Capital and
DT Capital is the company's first round of institutional venture capital.
In connection with this financing, ProGenTech also announced that
Trevor Hawkins, PhD has joined the company as Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer. Dr. Hawkins is the primary inventor of the magnetic bead
technology used by several commercial biotechnology companies. Dr. Hawkins
was previously the CEO of Philips Molecular Healthcare business and held
senior executive roles at GE and MDS. He was also the Director of the US
DOE Joint Genome Institute, and led the DOE's efforts to sequence the Human
genome. Dr. Hawkins said, "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to
truly change the life science and medical diagnostics markets. The
combination of the ProGenTech technology, our China manufacturing and
innovation, and our growing customer base is a great starting point to
shift the global healthcare dynamic. Our two new institutional investors
have been great to work with, and we look forward to taking this company
forward together."
Fred Craves, Managing Director of Bay City Capital, said, "Bay City
Capital is pleased to announce our first investment in China, ProGenTech,
in partnership with DT Capital of Shanghai. ProGenTech has an experienced
market-savvy founders group. They identified a valuable market need and
have delivered the technology to provide a solution. The addition of an
industry- recognized CEO to provide global commercial strategy and
leadership positions ProGenTech for rapid market penetration and success."
About ProGenTech
ProGenTech is a life science company based in Shanghai, Suzhou and
Emeryville California. Established in 2005, the company has 40 employees
today. Their first product, the Entura, was launched in Asia in November
2007. Additional information about ProGenTech can be found at
http://www.progentech.com.
About Bay City Capital
Bay City Capital is a life sciences venture capital firm investing in
opportunities across the various life sciences sectors in companies at all
stages of development. Established in 1997, the firm has managed six
venture capital funds representing $1.5 billion in capital commitments. Bay
City Capital has invested in over 70 companies to date and is actively
seeking new investment opportunities. Additional information about Bay City
Capital can be found at http://www.baycitycapital.com.
About DT Capital
DT Capital Partners is a China-based venture capital firm focused on
early to expansion stage investments in the consumer, media, energy, and
technology sectors. DT Capital invests in companies that have large market
opportunities, strong management teams, and demonstrated models in both
technology based and traditional businesses. DT Capital currently manages
over $500 million in capital, and is affiliated with Madrone Capital in the
US, which is the investment entity for the Walton family. Additional
information about DT Capital can be found at http://www.dtcap.com.
SOURCE ProGenTech, Ltd.
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Related links:
http://www.progentech.com
http://www.baycitycapital.com http://www.dtcap.com
CONTACT:
Trevor Hawkins, Chairman and CEO of
ProGenTech, Ltd., +1-925-640-0479, trevor.hawkins@progentech.com
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