Jan. 28, 2003 — Perlegen Sciences Inc., the Affymetrix Inc. spinoff formed in 2000 to develop therapeutics and diagnostics products, closed on a $30 million second round of financing, according to a company news release.
The round was led by Maverick Capital. New investors include Unilever Technology Ventures, Eli Lilly & Co., Biofrontier Partners and CSK Venture Capital. Previous investors Vulcan Ventures, BioMedical Sciences Investment Fund, CMEA Ventures, SB Life Science Ventures and Alejandro Zaffaroni also participated.
Perlegen will use the funds to accelerate its current research and development efforts. The company uses high-density microarray chips to sequence human DNA and aims to discover and prioritize new drug targets and develop new pharmaceutical and diagnostic products. Perlegen has ongoing research collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline plc and Pfizer Inc. Perlegen announced $100 million in first-round funding in April 2001.