SCYNEXIS

News and Events Press Releases

SCYNEXIS Closes First Round of Funding

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. (November 21, 2000) – SCYNEXIS™ Chemistry & Automation, Inc. a new drug discovery company which announced its launch earlier this month, closed its first-round investment of $15 million through a venture capital syndicate led by Genavent.

Paris-based venture fund Genavent said the round was a combination of equity and debt financing. Genavent was created early this year and invests in the areas of genomics and biochemistry and in companies with advanced technologies that provide access to new medicines, vaccines or agricultural products. The fund invests in Europe and the United States.

The other venture investors in this round included French-based firms S.G. Asset Management, a subsidiary of Societe Generale Group, and Ventech, a technology fund. The syndicate also includes a Franco-American bank.

S.G. Asset Management is a specialist in third-party asset management and currently manages about $150 billion. Ventech said its support of SCYNEXIS is the first investment for Ventech Capital II Fund in the life sciences sector.

Ventech, a unit of the group Financiere Natexis Banques Populaire, manages the Ventech I and Ventech II funds. The funds invest in information technology and life sciences start-ups in continental Europe, Israel and the United States.

SCYNEXIS is a privately held spin-off created by a team of researchers from Aventis CropScience in Research Triangle Park. The president and chief executive officer of the company is Yves Ribeill, a former research director of the Aventis crop and animal health business, as well as Rhone-Poulenc Rorer pharmaceuticals.

SCYNEXIS, which already has research contracts under way, offers a comprehensive range of synthesis chemistry services for the pharmaceutical and other life sciences industries.

At its new 30,000-square-foot facility, the company’s scientists utilize proprietary technology platforms and advanced automation systems, including the MEDCHEM-FACTORY®, to produce and analyze tens of thousands of new molecules. The company’s expertise also includes the optimization of lead drug candidates as well as GMP sample preparation for clinical and field evaluations.