Illinois State Treasurer Judy Barr Topinka today showcased Chromatin, Inc. – a promising start-up in the state's emerging biotech sector – as an example of the type of investment the new $50 million Technology Development Fund will make over the next three years to move the state's economy forward. Chromatin raised $7.3 million in a Series B round of financing in October 2004; investors included Illinois Ventures, one of three Illinois-based funds to receive capital from the new Technology Development Fund so far.

"Chromatin represents the kind of early stage company that Illinois Ventures and the Technology Development Fund itself were created to support. The company has Illinois roots, and its scientists are developing a technology of great potential importance to the state's economy," said John Banta, CEO and Managing Director of Illinois Ventures.

Chromatin is an agricultural biotechnology company developing its mini-chromosome technology for improved product development of new seeds for major crops. The company has about 20 employees, with operations in Chicago, Urbana, and in Saskatoon, Canada. Following recent advances in its core technology, Chromatin has shifted its resources toward the commercial crops that will have the greatest impact in the market and the greatest return to the company's investors.

Chromatin Vice President of Business Development Joe Feldman joined Topinka and Banta at Tuesday's announcement. Feldman said Chromatin's highest priority crop is corn, making the company an ideal investment target for a state-sponsored technology fund.

"Illinois farmers produce 16 percent of the nation's corn crop and the state has a rich history of innovation in developing corn as the leading economic crop in the US. Chromatin's technology could produce significant improvements in the agronomic performance of corn and other crops. Illinois farmers are among the nation's leaders in using and benefiting from agricultural biotechnology," Feldman said.

Chromatin's proprietary mini-chromosome technology can rapidly deliver multi-gene stacks that provide stable and consistent performance in plants. Currently, the pace of crop improvement through biotechnology is limited because new traits are introduced one at a time and require long development and approval cycles. Chromatin's technology addresses this problem, and the successful development of mini-chromosomes could lead to crops having a range of improved characteristics, such as herbicide tolerance, resistance to disease, improved stress tolerance, efficient fertilizer use and higher nutritional value. Chromatin is focused on mini-chromosome technology to accelerate speed to market for new traits and seeds.

Chromatin, Inc., develops and markets novel proprietary technology that enables entire chromosomes to be designed and incorporated into plant cells. These engineered chromosomes make it possible for the first time to simultaneously introduce multiple genes into a plant cell while maintaining precise control of gene expression. Chromatin is employing these new genetic tools to design and market products that confer commercially valuable traits in plants, including improved nutritional and health characteristics, and can be used for industrial, agricultural and pharmaceutical product development.

Chromatin's investors include Burrill & Co., Foragen Technology Management, Venture Investors, Unilever Technology Ventures, Illinois Ventures; in addition, significant support has been provided by the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).