GAITHERSBURG, Md., Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MedImmune, Inc.
(Nasdaq: MEDI) announced today that its board has allocated an additional $100
million to MedImmune Ventures, Inc., the company's venture capital subsidiary.
MedImmune Ventures was created in July 2002 to invest in early-to-late-stage,
public or private biotechnology companies focused on discovering and
developing human therapeutics. To date, the fund has invested approximately
$85 million in a dozen promising young companies, including: Applied Genetic
Technologies Corp., Arriva Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cellective Therapeutics,
Inc., Critical Therapeutics, Inc., Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp., Iomai Corp.,
GenPat77 AG, Micromet AG, Receptor BioLogix, Tercica, Inc., Vanda
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and VaxInnate Corp.
"MedImmune Ventures has been successful over the past two and one-half
years in providing us with a window into new and innovative products and
technologies being developed by exciting young biotech companies," said Wayne
T. Hockmeyer, Ph.D., president of MedImmune Ventures. "We will continue to
use our venture fund as a means by which we can work with such early-stage
companies, helping them financially and strategically, while seeking to create
value for MedImmune."
MedImmune Ventures primarily seeks to invest in areas of strategic
interest to MedImmune, including infectious disease, immunology and oncology.
The fund, which was seeded with an initial $100 million, generally invests up
to $20 million per company with an average investment of about $7 million.
The assessment of new investment opportunities is conducted by a team of
experts at MedImmune, lead by Dr. Hockmeyer, that includes members from the
company's research and development, clinical, sales and marketing,
intellectual property, regulatory, corporate development, legal and finance
departments.
About MedImmune, Inc.
MedImmune strives to provide better medicines to patients, new medical
options for physicians, rewarding careers to employees, and increased value to
shareholders. Dedicated to advancing science and medicine to help people live
better lives, the company is focused on the areas of infectious diseases,
cancer and inflammatory diseases. With approximately 2,000 employees
worldwide, MedImmune is headquartered in Maryland. For more information, visit
the company's website at http://www.medimmune.com.
This announcement may contain, in addition to historical information,
certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such
statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain
assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from those currently
anticipated as a result of a number of factors, including risks and
uncertainties discussed in MedImmune's filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. The company is developing several products for potential
future marketing. There can be no assurance that such development efforts
will succeed, that such products will receive required regulatory clearance or
that, even if such regulatory clearance were received, such products would
ultimately achieve commercial success.
SOURCE MedImmune, Inc.
CONTACT: Media: Jamie Lacey +1-301-398-4035 or Investors: Peter Vozzo
+1-301-398-4358 or John Filler +1-301-398-4086all of MedImmune, Inc.
Web site: http://www.medimmune.com
(MEDI)