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Under the Radar: UBC Spin-off Company Precision Nanosystems Quietly Raises $13.4 Million in Series A Financing
Monday, November 2, 2015Company Profile | Follow Company
Vancouver, BC, November 2, 2015--(T-Net)--Precision NanoSystems, Inc. (PNI), a global nanomedicine company, quietly announced the completion of a major $13.4 million private Series A financing (that completed in late September).
The investment was led by 5AM Ventures and Telegraph Hill Partners, with additional participants that include the Rising Tide Fund and other individual investors.
PNI will use the funding to expand product development, increase manufacturing capacity and accelerate commercialization of its novel instruments and reagents platform.
PNI is a manufacturer of instruments, kits and reagents in the global nanomedicine market providing tools for drug development and cell-specific delivery to study, diagnose and treat disease.
PNI's flagship product, the NanoAssemblr™ Benchtop instrument, allows scientists to rapidly develop novel nanomedicine drug candidates for pre-clinical testing.
PNI has sold over 60 NanoAssemblr Benchtop instruments worldwide to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as several elite academic institutions.
PNI's scale-up platform for producing nanomedicines is in beta test at several locations and under development for the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) manufacture of nanomedicines.
PNI's instruments and consumables enable clients to develop a wide range of lipid and polymer nanoparticles for the delivery of genetic medicines (such as DNA, siRNA, mRNA, miRNA, CRISPR, etc.), small-molecule drugs and proteins.
“We are very enthusiastic about the expertise and experience that our new investors bring to Precision NanoSystems,” said James Taylor, Co-Founder & CEO of Precision NanoSystems. “The team, together with the financial support provided by this investment, will allow PNI to accelerate the commercialization of our full suite of instruments, reagents and scale-up technology. The NanoAssemblr technology will provide our customers an expanded platform to develop the next generation of nanomedicines, significantly impacting the development of novel treatments for many diseases.”
Concurrent with the financing, Andy Schwab, Founder and Managing Partner of 5AM Ventures, Deval Lashkari, Senior Partner of Telegraph Hill Partners, Andrew Booth, CFO STEMCELL Technologies, and Joe Victor, CEO of Startide Sciences, will join existing co-founding directors James Taylor and Dan Nixon, on the company's Board. Victor will take the role of Executive Chairman.
PNI would like to thank the outgoing Directors, scientific co-founders Drs. Pieter Cullis and Carl Hansen, and long-time Directors Steve Fane and Paul Geyer for their invaluable support in bringing PNI's initial technologies to market. Drs. Cullis and Hansen will remain involved in the company as scientific advisors.
Genome BC also announced today that PNI is a University of British Columbia (UBC) spin-out company from the labs of Professors Pieter Cullis and Carl Hansen.
Genome BC provided over $600,000 in direct investment into early-stage research performed by Professors Cullis and Hansen, and their collaborators at UBC, which provided the critical proof-of-concept for the technology underlying the products commercialized by PNI.
Today, PNI is a global nanomedicine company that manufactures instruments, kits and reagents in the global nanomedicine market providing tools for drug development and cell-specific delivery to study, diagnose and treat disease.
“We are very grateful to have an organization like Genome BC in our community,” said James Taylor, Co-Founder & CEO of Precision NanoSystems. “Genomics is a fast-moving, exciting field and Genome BC recognizes the need to enable local researchers to accelerate commercialization”.
“It is gratifying to see that the early investment made by Genome BC has helped PNI to become and increasingly key player on the global nanomedicine market,” says Dr. Alan Winter, President and CEO of Genome BC. “I congratulate the team on their flagship product, The NanoAssemblr, which provide an expanded platform to develop the next generation of nanomedicines, significantly impacting the development of novel treatments for many diseases”.
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Editor's Note: Precision NanoSystems Inc. (PNI) was also recently selected into Rocket Builder's "Ready to Rocket" list of life science companies that are poised to capitalize on growth opportunities, and teh company was also a finalist in the New Ventures BC competion back in 2011.
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Company Management Team
James Taylor, Ph.D.
CEO
James has significant experience in the development and commercialization of biotechnologies. James has a B.A.Sc. in engineering physics from UBC and a Ph.D. in genetics from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, WA. James worked at the Seattle based Venture Capital firm, the Accelerator Corporation concurrent with his Ph.D. and has over 7 years of experience in the science and commercialization of microfluidics, nanotechnology, and systems biology. James has been the leader of Precision's technology and commercialization since invention.
Euan Ramsay, Ph.D.
COO
Euan has 15 years experience in the science and commercialization of nanoparticle systems. Euan has an undergraduate degree in pharmacy from the U. of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland and a Ph.D. in gene therapy from Cardiff U., Wales. Prior to Precision, Euan worked at the Centre for Drug Research and Development where he led a funding program that raised over $33 million for drug discovery and development projects. Additionally, Euan was Co-inventor of the nanop
About Precision NanoSystems, Inc.
Precision NanoSystems, Inc. (PNI) creates innovative solutions for the discovery, development and manufacture of novel nanoparticles for use as medicines and in medical research. PNI's proprietary NanoAssemblr platform enables the rapid, reproducible, and scalable manufacture of next-generation nanoparticle formulations for the targeted delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents to cells and tissues in the body. PNI provides instruments, reagents and services to life sciences researchers, including pharmaceutical companies, and builds strategic collaborations to revolutionize healthcare through nanotechnology. For more information, visit: www.PrecisionNanosystems.com.
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