Chromos
Molecular Systems Inc. ("Chromos"; TSX: CHR) and its
subsidiary Agrisoma Biosciences Inc. ("Agrisoma") announced
today that Agrisoma has closed a private financing. Proceeds
will be used to fund future operations and advance Agrisoma's
research and development programs. Agrisoma is an early stage
biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing
its chromosome-based gene transfer technology to enable the
discovery and development of high value traits in crops and
enable the production of proteins in plant-based systems.
"The success of this financing is further validation of the
value and the diverse applications of our platform technology,"
said Alistair Duncan, President and CEO of Chromos. "Despite the
difficult financing climate, we have received the endorsement
and strong support of the investment community and the ag-bio
sector for Agrisoma and its prospects. Agrisoma can move ahead
with its own resources to advance the work already initiated in
plant-based systems, while Chromos can dedicate its resources to
progressing its mammalian platform for the manufacture of
therapeutic proteins and cell-mediated gene therapies."
The investment syndicate for this financing included the
Business Development Bank of Canada and an MDS Capital Group
company, MedInnova Partners Inc. The financial terms of the deal
were not disclosed.
Chromos also announced today that Agrisoma has secured
additional non- dilutive funding from NRC's Industrial Research
Assistance Program (IRAP), to further lever its research
capital.
"I am very pleased by the successful completion of this
financing for Agrisoma. The quality of the investors with their
strong connection to the biotech industry are major components
for the future growth of the company, putting Agrisoma in an
enviable position to continue to raise independent capital,"
said Darrell Elliott, Chairman of Chromos' Board of Directors.
With Chromos maintaining an equity position in Agrisoma, this
arrangement will enable our shareholders to benefit from the
success of the spinout and realize shareholder value much more
rapidly than if we had tried to do it all in Chromos itself."
The funds raised will be used to advance the development of
Agrisoma's chromosome-based gene transfer technology in
plant-based systems. Competitive features of Agrisoma's
technology include its large and multiple gene carrying
capacity, its ability to maintain the long term and stable
expression of theses genes, and its ability to selectively and
predictably control protein expression. A major limitation of
conventional gene transfer technologies is their limited
capacity to transfer large amounts of DNA, an important feature
to enable crops to express multiple traits or large complex
genes. Agrisoma's technology overcomes this barrier.
Agrisoma's business objective is to deploy its technology
with multiple partners in 3 large and growing markets focused on
(1) crop variety development (2) screening and discovery tools
for plant genomics and (3) production of therapeutic and
industrial proteins in plant systems.
