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Codon Devices formed by Academic and Industrial Leaders to Pursue Commercial Applications of Synthetic Biology
CAMBRIDGE, MA (June 1, 2005) -- Codon Devices, the first venture-backed startup focused on commercializing applications of Synthetic Biology, announced today that it has closed its first round of private equity financing. Founding investor Flagship Ventures led the Series A round, with Alloy Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and Vinod Khosla co-investing in the round. The company is currently developing its proprietary BioFABTM production platform that is expected to accurately synthesize kilobase- to megabase-length genetic code, orders of magnitude more rapidly and less expensively than currently available technology. In the short term, product opportunities include comprehensive sets of biological parts for large-scale research projects, engineered cells that produce novel pharmaceuticals, engineered protein biotherapeutics and novel biosensor devices. In the longer term, the company’s core technology is expected to enable improved vaccines, agricultural products and biorefineries for the production of industrial chemicals and energy.
"Codon Devices is leading a new era in molecular biology," said Samir Kaul, founding-CEO and a Principal at Flagship Ventures. "Our platform enables the engineering of biological systems with unprecedented precision and will lead to a number of breakthrough products serving therapeutic and industrial purposes."
Codon Devices, based in Cambridge, MA, was founded in 2004 through collaboration among leading academics: George Church (Harvard), Drew Endy (MIT), Joseph Jacobson (MIT) and Jay Keasling (UC Berkeley), with experienced entrepreneurs and start-up investors: Noubar Afeyan, Samir Kaul and Vinod Khosla. As a result of the first round venture financing, Michael Hunkapiller of Alloy Ventures and Joe Lacob of Kleiner Perkins have joined the board.
"With the completion of the human genome sequence and many other genome projects, we now have a vast and growing list of biological parts with distinct functions," commented Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Chairman of Codon Devices and Managing Partner of Flagship Ventures. "Much like the early days of biotechnology where genetic engineering techniques--despite their limited scope--enabled the development of high-value products, Codon Devices’ biological engineering technologies will enable the next phase of biotechnology with more powerful tools that permit the design and fabrication of far more complex systems."
"Having led one of the foremost technology suppliers to the academic and industrial biotechnology labs, I am excited to be involved with the next transformative technology in our industry," commented Dr. Michael Hunkapiller, General Partner at Alloy Ventures, and former President of Applied Biosystems. "Codon Devices was an attractive investment for us because it combines breakthrough technology, strong intellectual property, large commercial markets and a group of outstanding scientific founders."
"It is rather unusual for my firm, Kleiner Perkins, to invest and take a board role in an East Coast venture," commented Joe Lacob, Managing Partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Menlo Park, Calif. "We consider Codon Devices to be a cornerstone life science investment opportunity in the post human genome era. The technologies underlying the company enable a very large set of commercial opportunities."
Codon Devices has internally developed and licensed-in intellectual property related to the efficient synthesis of DNA code as well as numerous designs and processes involving biological systems. These advances relate to several key requirements for the commercial application of biological engineering, including improvements in throughput, performance precision, predictability, ease of design, manufacturability and cost effectiveness. The company’s early commercial focus is on providing engineered devices for molecular biology research, improved cell engineering for the production of high value chemicals, and engineered biotherapeutics.
"I am excited to be a part of the first commercial endeavour at the intersection of post-genome biology with high-technology. Codon Devices enables a wide range of important applications from protein optimization to biorefineries," said Vinod Khosla, previously co-founder of Daisy Systems, and founding CEO of Sun Microsystems.
Codon Devices’ distinguished founding scientific advisory board (SAB) represents leaders in the fields of chemical, biological, and electrical engineering; molecular biology, computational biology, and genetics. The SAB is chaired by George Church, Harvard Medical School and includes: David Baker, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at the University of Washington; Jim Collins, Boston University; Michael Elowitz, California Institute of Technology; Drew Endy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Michael Hunkapiller, Alloy Ventures; Joseph Jacobson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Jay Keasling, UC-Berkeley; Paul Modrich, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at Duke University; Christina Smolke, California Institute of Technology; Ron Weiss, Princeton University.
Codon Devices, based in Cambridge, MA, was founded in 2004 to pioneer commercial applications of Synthetic Biology. Backed by leading Venture Capital firms, the Company has developed and licensed-in intellectual property related to the high throughput and accurate synthesis of DNA code of unprecedented lengths. The company’s proprietary BioFABTM platform enables the efficient engineering of novel biological systems. Codon’s early commercial focus is on providing comprehensive sets of parts for molecular biology research, on improved cell engineering for the production of high value chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and engineered biotherapeutics. Additional information can be found at www.codondevices.com.
Dr. George Church, a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, has been a pioneer in molecular biology over the last two decades. His innovations in genomics, computational biology, genetics and systems biology have been the basis for a number of companies. Most recently, Prof. Church has been focused on multiplex DNA synthesis from arrays. His breakthrough technology, published in the December 2004 issue of Nature, forms the technical foundation for Codon Devices. Commenting on his new venture, Dr. Church noted: "With so much of biology automated, clear bottlenecks remain at the design, synthesis and testing stages. We hope to build community resources to address these safely and accurately." Dr. Church is co-founder and Chair of Codon Devices’ Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Drew Endy, recently named an Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT, is widely considered the founder of the synthetic biology field. He co-leads The MIT Registry of Standard Biological Parts which records and indexes biological parts that are currently being built and offers synthesis and assembly services to construct new parts, devices, and systems. "Rapid construction of very long fragments of synthetic DNA is a critical technology that will accelerate science, enable engineering, and improve human health. With Codon Devices, I am committed to the responsible, constructive, and open development and application of biological technology," said Prof. Endy. Dr. Endy is a co-founder and member of Codon Devices’ Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Joseph Jacobson, an Associate Professor at the MIT Media Lab, leads the Molecular Machines group of the Center for Bits and Atoms where he pioneered research in logic and machines developed from inorganic and biomolecular building blocks. Prof. Jacobson has co-founded a number of companies in the semiconductor, electronics, and biotechnology industries. "Given the modularity of biological building blocks, Codon Devices is the first technology I have seen since semiconductors which has the potential to harness the creative input of tens of thousands of engineers and designers. It is very exciting," commented Prof. Jacobson, co-founder and Board member of Codon Devices.
Dr. Jay Keasling, a Professor of Chemical Engineering and Founding Director of the Synthetic Biology Department at UC-Berkeley, is a recognized leader in engineering of metabolic pathways in cells. He recently received a $42.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support a joint project for the Institute for One World Health in research and development for a cure for malaria. Commenting on the new venture, Prof. Keasling said, "I am delighted to be part of such an outstanding founding team. Codon Devices' technology has broad implications in my two major areas of interest: metabolic engineering and energy."
Samir Kaul, CEO
Codon Devices, Inc.
(617) 633-8395
skaul@flagshipventures.com
Peter Steinerman
(516) 374-3031
prsteinerman@aol.com
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