Caprion raises record private placement for Canadian biotechnology firm

Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc has made Canadian biotechnology history, attracting the largest private placement to date with a $52.5-million investment by venture capital and institutional investors. The Montreal-based proteomics company has now raised $64 million in capital and will use the funds to conduct research for diagnostic compounds and therapeutics products combining sub-cellular biology and large-scale mass spectrometry.

Caprion's protein cell mapping capability will lead to an integrated database of proteomics information for cell types under normal and diseased conditions. The firm and its partners - IDEXX Laboratories Inc, Westbrooke MN and Micromass UK Ltd - will use the information to create products and therapy strategies.

The latest round of financing was led by Yorkton Securities and provided by Ventures West and Fidelity Management & Research Co on behalf of funds and accounts it manages. Ventures West provided $10.5 million in this round, raising its total investment in Caprion to $13.5 million.

Last month, Caprion raised $11.5 million from Micromass UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based Waters Corp, to support the design and implementation of its large-scale, high-throughput mass spectrometry efforts. The two firms will also undertake collaborative R&D. Caprion's lead research programs include the first diagnostic products for BSE (Mad Cow Disease) and its human strain, Creutzfeldt-Jacob's Disease, as well as early stage diagnostics and therapeutics programs in Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

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