Tucson biotech nets $10 million investment led by Merck
Summary:
High Throughput Genomics Inc. of Tucson has announced the receipt of $10 million in venture-capital investment, led by pharmaceutical giant Merck, strengthening the small firm's position in a rapidly evolving and fiercely competitive scientific field and business environment.
Full Story:
High Throughput Genomics Inc. (HTG) of Tucson, which makes sample plates for chemical screening in genetic testing, has announced the receipt of $10 million in venture-capital investment, led by pharmaceutical giant Merck, strengthening the small firm's position in a rapidly evolving and fiercely competitive technological and business environment.
"It's a huge validation for what they're doing," said Nina Ossanna, chair of the Bioindustry Organization of Southern Arizona, in the Arizona Daily Star. "Merck is one of those companies who does their homework. It's a huge boost for all of Arizona."
In addition to Merck, the new financing for HTG comes from two venture-capital funds with Arizona offices, Solstice Capital and Valley Ventures, and Arcturus Capital, of Pasadena, Calif. Solstice and Valley Ventures have previously provided funding to HTG.
Merck's interest stems from HTG's development of drug-discovery technology that makes possible quicker, cheaper, and more reliable diagnostic tests. Its specialty, the ArrayPlate qNPA (quantitative nuclease protection assay) technology, is used for various drug-development tests, including target validation—proving that particular DNA, RNA, or a protein molecule is involved in a disease process.
Using the qNPA process achieves efficiency and improved accuracy because it is able to break down cell or tissue samples as it tests for particular gene activity, eliminating steps like extraction and target amplification required with other technology. The more commonly used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, for example, involves generating millions of copies of a piece of DNA; this process takes longer and can fail if contaminant DNA particles are introduced during the amplification process.
"We had invested in this space previously and saw that HTG's technology offered significant performance and cost advantages over PCR, the gold standard for measuring gene expression," said Harry George, Solstice's managing partner.
With the most recent investment, George will become chairman of HTG; he has served on HTG's board since 2002.
The new round of financing will "allow us to commercialize our existing products, invest in sales and marketing, and increase the awareness on the street of our technology—and why it's beneficial," said Kirk Collamer, HTG's chief financial and operating officer, in the Daily Star.
HTG is a privately held company, with a staff of 18 at its Tucson facility.
For more information:
"Merck, others invest $10M in Tucson biotech firm HTG," The Arizona Daily Star, 10/23/2007