EGeen International Completes $2.0 Million Private Placement
Redwood City, CA. - April 2, 2002 EGeen International Corporation, a privately held emerging biotechnology company focused on population genetics, drug and diagnostic target discovery, and personalized medicine applications, announced today the completion of a $2.0 million private placement financing led by the SEAF CEE Growth Fund and The Baltics Small Equity Fund. EGeen International, incorporated last year in the United States, has exclusive commercial rights to information from the Estonian Gene Bank. The Estonian Gene Bank project is a major national effort sponsored by the Estonian Government with the objective of gathering DNA samples from a significant portion of the population. EGeen will utilize this comprehensive database for drug and diagnostic target discovery and personalized medicine applications. The Company will initially establish biopharmaceutical and pharmacogenetic collaborations with partners seeking to validate drug target candidates and genetic drug profiles. SEAF CEE Growth Fund ($1.1 Million) and Baltics Small Equity Fund ($0.4 Million), managed by Small Enterprise Assistance Funds, are experienced investors in Central and Eastern Europe and will provide strategic and financial expertise. Co-investors include Steve Jurvetson, managing director of a venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Ned Olivier, founding General Partner of Oxford Bioscience Partners, a leading life science venture capital firm. EGeen will use the initial funding to build the Estonian Gene Bank and to develop a U.S. staff focusing on corporate development. About Small Enterprise Assistance Funds SEAF is an international venture fund management firm founded in 1989 with headquarters in Washington, D.C. and a worldwide network of funds operating in 14 countries. SEAF manages over USD 140 million, and has made over 190 investments worldwide. The SEAF CEE Growth Fund LLC ("the Growth Fund") is a USD 16.3 million venture capital fund that invests from $0.5 to $3 million in the best performing, growth-oriented companies in the SEAF portfolio that operate in Central and Eastern Europe. The Growth Fund invested in Asper Biotech, an Estonian genotyping technology company, in 2001 and has made a number of investments in Poland and Croatia. The Growth Fund's investors include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), State Secretariat for Economic Affairs Switzerland (SECO), Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation (FINNFUND), Pension Fund of the Evagelische Kirche in Hesse und Nassau, Calvert World Values International Equity Fund, and Merifin Capital N.V. The Growth Fund operates from its offices in Washington, D.C. and Warsaw, Poland. The Baltics Small Equity Fund LLC ("BSEF") is a venture capital fund investing into small and medium sized growth-oriented companies in Baltic countries. BSEF has made 22 investments since 1998, including 12 investments in Estonia. BSEF invested into Asper Biotech in 2000 and was an investor in Regio from 1998 to 2000. The shareholders of BSEF are the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Baltic American Enterprise Fund (BalAEF), and SEAF. BSEF operates from its offices in Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. About Estonia The Northern European country of Estonia offers a genetically heterogeneous population of 1.4 million people whose DNA appropriately represents Westerners. The government of Estonia has created a unique legal and ethical environment that will enable EGeen International to develop information and resources of high economic and medical value. This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially. In particular, statements regarding the negotiations with the potential investors or corporate partners are subject to risks, including the possibility that no definitive agreement will be reached with partners, or that any of proposed closing conditions to the transaction will not be satisfied. EGeen International Corporation SEAF CEE Growth Fund BSEF |