Trius Therapeutics Raises $30 Million in Series B Financing
SAN DIEGO, March 24, 2008 -- Trius Therapeutics, Inc. today announced the close of a $30 million Series B financing to advance the clinical development of its best-in-class oxazolidinone antibacterial drug TR-701, now completing Phase I testing. The financing was led by Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers (KPCB). New investor FinTech Global Capital participated in the round, along with all existing investors -- Sofinnova Ventures, Versant Ventures, Interwest Partners and Prism VentureWorks.
"The excellent results from our ongoing Phase I trial, including data confirming the potential for once-daily dosing, prompted us to raise this round of financing earlier than initially planned to accelerate the clinical development of TR-701," stated Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D., President and CEO of Trius Therapeutics. "We are encouraged that KPCB has recognized our potential and joined our strong investor group. The proceeds from this financing will enable Trius to advance TR-701 through Phase II and into Phase III development, and to continue to invest in our pre-clinical programs."
In connection with the Series B investment, KPCB partner Risa Stack, Ph.D. will join the Trius board. "Trius represents our first investment in an antibacterial therapeutics company out of our Biodefense and Pandemic Fund" said Dr. Stack. "It signifies not only our confidence in the Trius programs and management, but also our concern over the growing unmet need for effective new antibacterial therapies."
About Trius Therapeutics
Trius Therapeutics is discovering and developing innovative antibacterial drugs for the treatment of infections caused by resistant pathogens. The company's lead drug candidate, TR-701 is a novel, oral and IV, oxazolidinone antibiotic with potent activity against drug-resistant Gram-positive bacterial pathogens including those resistant to Zyvox(R). Trius has licensed worldwide rights outside of Korea to TR-701 from Dong-A Pharmaceuticals. Trius' pipeline includes two additional structure-based drug design programs directed against novel antibacterial targets. For more information, visit http://www.triusrx.com.
About KPCB
KPCB began investing in and helping build life sciences companies in 1977 when it was the founding investor in Genentech. Since then, the firm and its Partners have backed entrepreneurs in 100 life science companies working in every area of medicine, including cardiology, cancer, neurology, immune system diseases, ophthalmology, and molecular diagnostics. Since its founding in 1972, KPCB has backed entrepreneurs in over 475 ventures, including AOL, Align Technology, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq Computers, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Google, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Lotus, LSI Logic, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Verisign and Xilinx. More than 150 of the firm's portfolio companies have gone public. Many other ventures have achieved success through mergers and acquisitions.
CONTACT: Cathy Yarbrough of Trius Therapeutics, Inc., +1-858-243-1814,
[email protected]
Web site: http://www.triusrx.com/