Date: Jul 22, 2009 Author: Julekha Dash Source: bizjournals (
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Julekha Dash
Profectus BioSciences Inc., an HIV and cancer research company, has secured $5 million in financing from venture firm Cross Atlantic Capital Partners.
The Baltimore company has also received a $1 million line of credit from California's Fountain Partners that it will use to lease lab equipment for a new vaccine center in Tarrytown, N.Y.
The new investments are unusual for biotech companies that are struggling nowadays to secure private capital amid tight credit markets. Profectus will use the new money to fund research and support general operating expenses.
Profectus is a spinout from the Institute of Human Virology formed to commercialize research spearheaded by Dr. Robert C. Gallo, the famed AIDS co-discoverer who oversees the institute.
Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, which focuses on early to mid-stage technology companies, has invested $19 million to date in Profectus. The Radnor, Pa., company manages four venture funds worth more than $500 million.
Profectus said it will test its first HIV vaccine candidate this year.
In December, Profectus was awarded $22 million by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop preventative and therapeutic HIV vaccines. The company has received more than $100 million in funding from private and public sources.
