WALTHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 28, 2003–Compound Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company developing a new class of protein therapeutic drugs, announced today the completionof a $12.0 million Series A Preferred Stock financing. Leading venture capital firms Atlas Venture, Flagship Ventures and Polaris Venture Partners co-led the round.
Compound Therapeutics is pioneering the development of a new class of therapeutic compounds, termed Adzymes, which represent the next generation of protein drugs by combining the catalytic activity of enzymes with the target specificity of antibodies and receptors. The Company was founded in September 2002 around an intellectual property portfolio for novel protein therapeutics.
“We are pleased to attract substantial capital from three top-tier venture investors,” said Frank Lee, Ph.D., President and CEO of Compound Therapeutics. “These resources will enable Compound to develop its industry-leading platform for discovering Adzyme protein drugs and to pursue its first product development program.”
In conjunction with the financing, the Company also announces that Jean-Francois Formela (Senior Principal of Atlas Venture), Noubar Afeyan (Senior Managing Director of Flagship Ventures), and Terry McGuire (Managing General Partner of Polaris Venture Partners) have joined the Compound Board of Directors.
“We are fortunate to have such strong board members in addition to an exceptional management team to lead the company,” said L. Patrick Gage, Ph.D., Compound’s chairman and former President of Wyeth Research.
Compound’s Scientific Advisory Board is chaired by Stephen Benkovic, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University) and includes the following world leaders in protein engineering, protein structure-function, enzymology and inflammation biology: Charles A. Dinarello, MD (University of Colorado School of Medicine); M. Reza Ghadiri, Ph.D. (The Scripps Research Institute); Lizbeth Hedstrom, Ph.D. (Brandeis University); Gregory Petsko, D.Phil. (Brandeis University); Mark Ptashne, Ph.D. (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute).
About Atlas Venture
Atlas Venture is a leading international early-stage venture capital firm, investing in communications, information technology and life sciences companies. With offices in Boston, London, Munich and Paris, Atlas Venture divides its investments between the United States and Europe. Founded in 1980, Atlas Venture currently manages $2.1 billion in committed capital. The Atlas Venture investment team is comprised of seasoned operating executives and career venture capitalists who have been deeply involved in the formation and development of more than 300 companies worldwide. For more information about Atlas Venture, go to www.atlasventure.com.
About Flagship Ventures
Founded in 1999, Flagship Ventures is an entrepreneurship and venture capital firm comprised of a family of funds: OneLiberty Funds, AGTC Funds and NewcoGen Group. Flagship currently invests from $400 million in funds raised in 2000, and manages a total pool of committed capital approaching $600 million. The Flagship Ventures team consists of 31 professionals focused on creating, financing, and building companies in the life science, information technology, and communications sectors. www.flagshipventures.com
About Polaris Venture Partners
With over $2 billion under management, Polaris Venture Partners is a partnership of experienced venture capital investors and technology executives who help entrepreneurs build market-leading companies in information technology and life sciences. Polaris-backed companies include: Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM); Allaire Corporation; Aspect Medical Systems (NASDAQ: ASPM); Centra Software (NASDAQ: CTRA); deCODE Genetics (NASDAQ: DCGN); Paradigm Genetics (NASDAQ: PDGM). The company has offices in Boston and Seattle. More information about Polaris Venture Partners is available at www.polarisventures.com.
