ABOUT US

Company Profile

Proacta Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company working to translate hypoxia-activated prodrug lead compounds into marketed drugs that treat cancer.

Proacta holds exclusive worldwide rights to 16 patent families targeting the development of new anti-cancer pro-drugs. Ongoing development of the portfolio is supported by significant grant funding and led by acknowledged international experts in the field at University of Auckland and Stanford University. Proacta's strong IP and ongoing research activities in hypoxia-targeted cancer therapies give it a leadership position in meeting a substantial unmet need for the large and growing oncology market.

To date Proacta has raised $47 million in Series A and B financings. Investors include Alta Partners, Clarus Ventures, GBS Venture Partners (Australia), Delphi Ventures, No 8 Ventures (New Zealand), Endeavour Capital (New Zealand), Roche, and Genentech.

In June 2004, Proacta Inc. acquired Proacta Therapeutics Limited (PTL), a New Zealand company formed in October 2001. PTL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Proacta Inc.

PTL was founded on intellectual property that included a combination of technical skills, know-how, patent protection, and established commercial relationships. The core intellectual property was derived from research conducted in New Zealand at Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre (ACSRC), a division of the University of Auckland; UniServices, the licensing arm of the University of Auckland; and in the United States at Stanford University. Research and development activities were mostly funded by external grants.

Following the acquisition of PTL, Proacta in-licensed key intellectual property surrounding the use of prodrugs to treat hypoxic tumors from UniServices. Proacta holds the exclusive worldwide license with a low royalty payment for all intellectual property arising out of the field of prodrugs that are activated by hypoxia. PTL, in conjunction with the founding scientists and their groups at the ACSRC, is engaged in the basic research and pre-clinical pharmacology of novel anti-cancer therapies targeting hypoxia in solid tumors.