Press Release.
London, December 18, 2008. Advent Venture Partners (‘Advent Ventures’) today announces the sale of one of its portfolio companies, Thiakis, to Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) for a total consideration of £100 million which includes upfront and clinical development milestone payments. Thiakis’s lead product candidate, TKS1225, is an analogue of the peptide hormone oxyntomodulin being studied for the treatment of obesity and the prevention and amelioration of associated conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Thiakis was founded in 2004 by Professor Stephen Bloom who is a world leading expert in the study of metabolic diseases at Imperial College, London, and by Dr John Burt who served as Chief Executive Officer, with support from Imperial Innovations (AIM: IVO).
Advent Venture Partners co-led the Series ‘A’ financing round for the company in 2006 along with Novo A\S and Imperial Innovations and co-investment from Royal Society, Esperante and others. Advent Ventures’ General Partner, Dr Raj Parekh, served on the Board.
Thiakis and its investors were advised by Credit Suisse, Morrison & Foerster and Rawlinson & Hunter.
About Advent Ventures:
Advent Ventures is one of the most experienced venture capital firms in the UK. Established in 1981 it invests in both the Life Sciences and the Technology sectors. It has over £500 million (US$ 765 million) under management from institutional investors across Europe and the USA. It has backed around 60 life science companies of which, to date, 22 have obtained public listings and a further 10 companies have been sold including PowderMed (to Pfizer) and KuDOS Pharmaceuticals (to AstraZeneca). Recent public listings include Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics on Euronext Amsterdam. Recent investments by the Advent Ventures Life Sciences team include the Swiss therapeutic antibody company, 4-Antibody; UK medical device company, Starbridge Systems; and EUSA Pharma, a transatlantic specialty pharmaceutical company.
For further information please contact:
Francesca Reville
Penrose Financial
Tel 020 7786 4884
Dr Raj Parekh
Advent Venture Partners
Tel 020 7932 2100
