Taligen Founders Interviewed on w3w3

Larry Nelson does fantastic work with w3w3, “Colorado’s Voice of the Technology Community”. Most recently he interviewed Taligen Therapeutics co-founders, CSO V. Michael Holers, MD and President & CEO Woodruff Emlen, MD. Take a listen here to learn more about how Taligen levered their proof-of-concept funding to a $65M Series B financing (HERE). If the link does not work simply paste this url in your browser for the podcast: http://www.w3w3pc.com/CUTTO/Taligen.Therapeutics_W.Emlen_M.Holers.mp3

*NOTE* Feel the power of the Colorado BioScience Association (HERE)!
*NOTE* Take a look at the new Boulder Biotech Company Tree (HERE)!
*NOTE* Read the new eBook CLSDF 2007 - What's In A Year? (HERE)!

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Taligen Therapeutics: $65M Series B

Taligen Therapeutics announced the close of a $65M Series B financing led by Alta Partners and Clarus Ventures and with ongoing participation from existing partners Sanderling Ventures, Tango and High Country Venture.

All I can say is ‘WOW’! I would be willing to bet a dollar that there is not a larger Series B financing anywhere last year or this year. Talk about a powerful syndicate of investors, this deal has attracted institutional dollars from Sand Hill Rd, San Fran, Boston and Boulder. Well done Dr. Emlen!

Taligen Therapeutics, Inc. is a development-stage biotechnology company with novel technology and expertise focused on modulation and control of the complement system. The complement system is believed to be a critical component in the initiation of inflammation. Complement system activation is characteristic of many human diseases, including asthma, macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis and immune renal disease.

Taligen’s lead products are monoclonal antibodies and recombinant fusion proteins which target key factors in the alternative complement pathway. These products are in preclinical stages of development to treat systemic as well as local inflammatory conditions.

***NOTE*** Read the new eBook CLSDF 2007 - What's In A Year? (HERE)!

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Taligen Featured in BioCentury

Congratulations to Woody Emlen and the rest of the Taligen Therapeutics team on their excellent Emerging Company Profile appearing in yesterday’s BioCentury’s Bernstein Report on BioBusiness. Great coverage not only for Taligen but this widely distributed periodical shines a great light upon Colorado life sciences.

“Taligen Therapeutics, Inc. is taking a two approaches to modulating complement for inflammatory diseases. The company thinks its lead antibody, TA-106, can modulate the pro-inflammatory system while still preserving the body’s natural immune response. A second program targets complement-mediated inflammation locally to reduce systemic toxicity and the amount of inhibitory protein needed for therapeutic effect…”

Web Makeover Wednesday…

Two beautiful new Colorado websites can be found…

Taligen Therapeutics, Inc., new website (here), is a development stage biotechnology company with a novel technology to modulate and regulate activation of the complement system. An IND for their lead product, TA106 for persistent asthma, should hopefully be filed by 4Q07.

And at 578 acres, the Fitzsimons Life Science District, new website (here), is currently the nation's largest scientific and medical development project. By mid-2008, the District will offer more than 6 million square feet of clinical and lab space, and be home to more than 16,000 life science professionals.

Taligen Therapeutics: Meeting Milestones

Taligen Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it has successfully attained the development milestone required to trigger the funding of the second tranche of its Series A Preferred financing. The $3.75M Series A is led by Sanderling Ventures, Tango and High Country Venture. The milestone was demonstrated in vivo efficacy of its lead compound TA106.

TA106 is a fragment of a monoclonal antibody which targets a critical regulator of complement activation. The initial development indication for an inhaled version of TA106 is the treatment of severe, persistent asthma. An IND filing for this product is expected in 2007. Taligen is concurrently developing TA106 for other indications.

Taligen – Articulating the Complement System

Co-founders of Taligen Therapeutics, Dr.’s Woody Emlen and Mike Holers recently took home the University of Colorado’s Tech Transfer Office Proof-of-Concept (POC) competition. The POC fund program makes seed stage investments ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 in start-up companies based on promising CU technologies. Each spring and fall a distinguished panel of VC’s contribute to the TTO POC selection process after the field has been narrowed to a select set of finalists.

Taking home this award has served to validate the importance of such seed stage resources as Taligen has been empowered to secure follow-on financings thanks in part to the POC award enabling the achievement of certain subsequent milestones.

Taligen is focused upon serious inflammatory disease, and based upon a needs analysis, the competitive landscape and pre-clinical data the areas of asthma, traumatic brain injury and autoimmune disease are leading the product development charge. Taligen is employing technologies that manipulate the complement proteins of the immune system which inhibit inflammation and target inhibitors of inflammation to specific sites of tissue injury.

The complement system is a cascade of proteins in the blood that are activated when needed to aid in the desruction of invaders and elimination of certain materials from the body. When the complement pathway is compromised, from events like malfunctioning regulatory protein action or inappropriate activation, the resultant effect may play a role in tissue-damaging inflammation which then yields a variety of disease. An analogy may be that antibodies function as a bodily alert system while complement functions as a bodily elimination system.

Researchers at Taligen are accelerating potential treatment options for combating inflammation as the initiation of Phase I human clinical trial is being prepared for. Oh, and was it mentioned that the company’s technology may be applied to multiple inflammatory diseases...sheer talus at Taligen.

For investor information contact me or Woody Emlen, MD.

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