PTC Therapeutics, Inc. Closes $50 Million Financing
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (PTC) today announced the completion of a $50 million financing. The round was led by The Column Group - a new investor - and existing investor Delphi Ventures. The co-lead investors were joined by current investors Credit Suisse First Boston, HBM BioVentures, Novo A/S, Celgene, and other existing and new investors. In conjunction with the Delphi investment, general partner Deepa Pakianathan, Ph.D. will join PTC's Board of Directors.
"We are delighted to welcome both The Column Group as an investor and Deepa as a Board member," stated Stuart W. Peltz, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, PTC Therapeutics, Inc. "This is our first syndicated equity financing round in over four years, and serves as an important external validation of the tremendous progress we have made as a company since 2005, including advancing our lead product ataluren into multiple pivotal studies. We are grateful for the continued support from our existing investors."
"The Column Group focuses on companies with groundbreaking science, innovative products, and strong management talent. PTC epitomizes these attributes and we are pleased to lead this round," commented Rick Klausner, M.D., managing partner, The Column Group and former director of the National Cancer Institute. "With top line pivotal data for ataluren in DMD expected in 2010, we believe that PTC is on the cusp of significant value creation opportunities."
"As a long-term investor in PTC, we are delighted to co-lead this round and I am honored to join the PTC Board," added Deepa Pakianathan, Ph.D., Delphi Ventures. "This round of funding increases financial flexibility for PTC as it prepares to commercialize its internally discovered and developed lead product. We believe the commercial launch of ataluren will represent a new paradigm in the treatment of genetic disorders."
About PTC Therapeutics
PTC is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of orally administered small-molecule drugs that target post-transcriptional control processes. Post-transcriptional control processes regulate the rate and timing of protein production and are of central importance to proper cellular function. PTC's internally discovered pipeline addresses multiple therapeutic areas, including genetic disorders, oncology, and infectious diseases. PTC has developed proprietary technologies that it applies in its drug discovery activities and are the basis for collaborations with leading biopharmaceutical companies such as Celgene, Genzyme, Gilead, Merck, Pfizer and Roche. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.ptcbio.com.