WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
(RJRT) today announced that it has spun off its Targacept, Inc. subsidiary
after completing a $30.4 million equity financing with lead investor EuclidSR
Partners and other venture investors.
EuclidSR Partners is a $200 million venture fund established to invest in
early stage and high-growth companies in healthcare, information technology
and the convergence of these two sectors. EuclidSR has been investing in
medical technology companies for more than 15 years and has funded successful
companies in the life sciences and biotechnology.
Targacept, Inc., which was formed by Reynolds Tobacco in 1997, is now a
privately held independent company based in Winston-Salem. Reynolds Tobacco,
which contributed a portfolio of patents and intellectual property to
Targacept, will own 43 percent of the newly formed company (on a fully diluted
basis). In addition to EuclidSR, other investors include:
* Burrill & Company, a San Francisco-based, private merchant bank focused
on venture-capital investment in, and strategic partnering with, life-
science companies;
* Auriga Ventures, CDC Innovation, Genavent (Aventis and Societe Generale
Asset Management) and Societe Generale Asset Management Finance, French
venture capital firms with strong experience and expertise in the
healthcare and biotechnology sectors;
* Advent Venture Partners, a U.K. based firm investing in the information
technology and healthcare areas; and
* Longleaf Venture Fund, a Winston-Salem based seed and early stage
venture-capital firm focused on biotechnology, information technology
and advanced materials.
As an independent company, Targacept will continue to design and develop
new compounds that can interact with certain receptors in the human nervous
system to treat major disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's
disease, depression, pain and ulcerative colitis, as well as Tourette's
Syndrome, attention deficit disorder and schizophrenia. In addition,
Targacept has an agreement with Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., signed in 1998,
to develop new drugs to treat Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
"This is a sound business decision for Targacept and Reynolds Tobacco,"
said Andrew J. Schindler, chairman and CEO of Reynolds Tobacco.
"During the past decade, our scientists have developed great expertise in
discovering new compounds and potential therapeutic uses of those compounds,"
he said. "Marrying this expertise with investors that have vast experience in
the pharmaceutical business will further Targacept's vision of becoming a
leading company in the discovery, development and commercialization of a new
class of therapies to treat human disease."
Schindler noted that Reynolds Tobacco's investment and expertise grew
Targacept from an idea into a company that has more than 60 issued patents and
pending applications, as well as hundreds of compounds that may have the
potential to treat disease.
EuclidSR Partner Elaine Jones noted, "Our investment in Targacept is
exciting because the company's platform technology in generating neural
receptor-selective compounds is very powerful, and the resulting therapeutics
have applications in a number of devastating human neurological diseases."
J. Donald deBethizy, RJRT vice president of product evaluation who
spearheaded Targacept's development, will leave Reynolds Tobacco to assume the
position of president and CEO of Targacept. Twelve other employees in the
Reynolds Tobacco research and development (R&D) department have also accepted
positions with Targacept.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RJR). R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is
the second-largest tobacco company in the United States, manufacturing about
one of every four cigarettes sold in the United States. Reynolds Tobacco's
product line includes four of the nation's 10 best-selling cigarette brands:
Winston, Camel, Salem and Doral. For more information, visit the company's
web site at http://www.rjrt.com .
SOURCE R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
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Related links:
http://www.rjrt.com
CONTACT:
Seth Moskowitz of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
Company, 336-741-7698
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