Trellis Bioscience, Inc. Raises $10 Million In Series B Venture Round

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Trellis Bioscience, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, announced today that it has raised $10 million in a Series B Preferred Stock venture capital financing. New investor Novartis Bioventures Ltd. led the round, with the participation of additional new investors Pac-Link Bio Venture Investment Corporation and Sagamore Bioventures LLC. Previous investors, Easton-Hunt Capital Partners, LP and Morgenthaler Partners VII LP also participated in the financing. Proceeds from the financing will be used to develop Trellis' own product candidates, as well as its corporate partnering product candidates, and for general corporate purposes.

Trellis additionally announced that Markus Goebel, M.D., Ph.D., managing director of Novartis Bioventures, will join the Trellis Board of Directors.

"We are very pleased to have the participation of this high quality group of venture investors whose support further validates Trellis' technology and business strategy," said Brian C. Cunningham, Trellis' Chief Executive Officer. "This financing will help to transform Trellis from a technology platform company to a product-oriented biotechnology firm that generates its own therapeutic candidates in the areas of infectious disease and oncology. At the same time, we will continue to partner with other companies to commercially validate the advantages of Trellis CellSpot(TM) technology to rapidly identify important therapeutic antibodies as well as high-producing cell lines that can dramatically improve the productivity of antibody and other protein manufacturing processes."

About Trellis Bioscience

Trellis Bioscience, Inc. has developed a breakthrough technology platform for discovery and selection of very rare cells that produce ideal proteins such as antibodies, selected for specificity, selectivity, affinity, secretion rate and other desired characteristics. The company's proprietary CellSpot(TM) platform is at the convergence of nanotechnology, software, digital microscopy and biology and allows for a parallel evaluation of millions of cells simultaneously in a way that enables the valuable one in one million cells to be reliably identified and recovered. The technology has broad application in the discovery and production process development of therapeutic proteins. In addition to applying CellSpot(TM) to the discovery and manufacturing needs of partners, Trellis is developing a pipeline of native human antibodies for the treatment of infectious disease and oncology. More information about Trellis Bioscience can be found at www.trellisbio.com.

Contact: Trellis Bioscience, Inc. Brian C. Cunningham, 650-616-1121 bcunningham@trellisbio.com or Kureczka/Martin Associates Joan Kureczka, 415-821-2413 jkureczka@comcast.net

Source: Trellis Bioscience, Inc.

>>> Discuss This Story