Sen. Baucus Announces $28 Million Investment in Ligocyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Bozeman, Montana

Senator Says Move Signifies Further Growth of Montana’s Biotechnology Sector

Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus http://baucus.senate.gov/ today announced jointly with LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc. http://www.ligocyte.com , that the company has successfully finalized an agreement that will mean an additional $28 million in funding to develop vaccines.

The deal demonstrates the tremendous value of the growing biotechnology industry in Bozeman, and is expected to bring more good paying jobs and encourage investment in one of the state’s fastest growing industries.

The funding, called a Series “C” round of financing, was initiated at Baucus’ Montana Economic Development Summit in Butte in 2007. (Montana Economic Summit A Huge Success. Your Input is Requested to Make the Next Even Better http://matr.net/article-23946.html — Summit links Montana businesses to new markets http://matr.net/article-23893.html )

The Summit brought together Montanans with national and international business leaders to find new ways to bolster Montana’s economy. There, one of the lead investors in the financing round, Dr. Ivor Royston at Forward Ventures http://www.forwardventures.com/ , first met with the biotechnology company. Dr. Royston will be serving as LigoCyte’s new Chairman of the Board of Directors. Additionally, six other investors have stepped forward to bring the total funding to $28 million. The other investors are JAFCO http://www.jafco.com/ , Fidelity Biosciences http://www.fidelitybiosciences.com , MedImmune Ventures http://www.medimmune.com/investors/mv/overview.asp , Novartis Venture Fund http://www.venturefund.novartis.com/ , Athenian Venture Partners http://www.athenianvp.com/ and MC Life Sciences Ventures http://www.mitsubishicorp-us.com/ourbusiness_investment.shtml (Mitsubishi International Corp).

“These dollars are a clear example of what I’ve been saying for a long time now, that investing in Montana is always a good move,” Baucus said. “In addition to an investment in LigoCyte, this is an investment in our state’s economy and a validation of the high quality of work being performed here. This is excellent news for our state, and especially, the Bozeman business community.”

“Max has been very helpful in promoting companies like LigoCyte to potential investors outside of the state of Montana,” said Donald Beeman, LigoCyte’s CEO. “This is a great place to do business, with a high quality of life, access to first-rate research universities, and with support from local venture funds and angel investor networks. Investment from the local finance community, in particular from Glacier Venture Fund, has been instrumental to our success."

About LigoCyte

LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing vaccines and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies focused on important respiratory and gastrointestinal markets. In particular, the company has made significant advances in the development of virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines.

The company is currently investigating its VLP vaccine against norovirus in human clinical studies. Norovirus is the leading cause of infectious gastroenteritis in the United States and other developed countries. Norovirus outbreaks are becoming increasingly recognized as an important contributor to morbidity and mortality in vulnerable populations, particularly in pediatric and geriatric subjects. Recent advances in detection have increased the awareness of norovirus in the health care community, and epidemic outbreaks in hospitals, nursing homes, and schools highlight the significance of the medical need for a safe and effective vaccine.

In addition to the norovirus vaccine program, LigoCyte has developed an influenza VLP vaccine that has demonstrated significant cross-protection against lethal influenza challenge in the industry standard model of vaccine performance.

LigoCyte media contact:

Karen Sipes, Ph.D.
Director, Marketing & Communications

[email protected]
(406) 556-9228

***

LigoCyte to raise $28 million in series C financing

LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals has successfully finalized an agreement for a $28 million venture capital financing round to further clinical development of its two lead vaccines against norovirus and influenza.

Full Story: http://www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com/article_news.asp?guid=9B572684-ED58-4D3C-94DD-1977A73AB1D0