BioSeek Appoints Michael C. Venuti, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer

 

For Immediate Release
November 7, 2007

BURLINGAME, CA -- BioSeek, Inc., a leader in applying integrated human biology systems for developing new therapeutics, announced today that Michael C. Venuti, Ph.D., has joined the Company as its Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Venuti succeeds Peter D. Staple, who will continue his involvement with the Company as an investor and Board member. Dr. Venuti previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Partners International, a small molecule-based drug discovery services company.

Fred Craves, Managing Director and Founder of Bay City Capital, which is a major investor in BioSeek, commented, "We welcome Michael to BioSeek, as we believe his leadership and specific experience in drug discovery will be important as BioSeek strives to expand its proprietary drug discovery activities. This new direction was highlighted by our recent research collaboration with Amylin Pharmaceuticals to discover novel peptide therapeutics. We thank Peter Staple for his important contributions to BioSeek, including taking the Company to a new level through validating corporate partnerships, including our relationship with Amylin."

"It's gratifying to have an individual with Michael's background and talent join us as the Company advances into an exciting new phase of development," added Peter Staple.

"I look forward to leading BioSeek in its new drug discovery-focused direction and anticipate these new initiatives will lead us to both additional partnerships and revenue-generating contracts in the future," commented Dr. Venuti. "The launching of our proprietary development programs utilizing our BioMAP(R) human biology screening systems will also provide us with additional internal value drivers."

Since the Discovery Partners merger with Infinity Pharmaceuticals in September 2006, Dr. Venuti has served as a consultant to TPG Growth Biotech Ventures, as well as to a number of biotech companies. Before becoming CEO of Discovery Partners, Dr. Venuti served as Chief Scientific Officer, and had been a member of its board of directors before becoming CSO. Prior to joining Discovery Partners, he served as General Manager of Celera Genomics Group's South San Francisco site after its acquisition of Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He served as Senior Vice President, Research and Preclinical Development, of Axys Pharmaceuticals prior to its acquisition by Celera. In this capacity, he was responsible for all small molecule target identification, medicinal chemistry, drug discovery and preclinical development activities. Prior to joining Axys, Dr.Venuti was Director of Bioorganic Chemistry at Genentech, Inc., and had begun his research career in medicinal chemistry at Syntex.

Dr. Venuti holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College, a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and completed postdoctoral training in the Institute of Organic Chemistry at Syntex Research. He is on the board of directors of Infinity Pharmaceuticals and serves as Executive Scientific Advisor to BIO Ventures for Global Health, a non-profit advocacy group focused on drug discovery and development for neglected diseases. Dr. Venuti holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco.

About BioSeek
BioSeek is improving the success rate of pharmaceutical research and development by integrating human biology from the early stages of drug discovery onward. The Company's BioMAP(R) Systems incorporate predictive human cell-based disease models that generate uniquely informative activity signatures for each potential drug, driving the selection and development of new drug candidates. BioSeek is leveraging BioMAP(R) Systems technology in collaborations to enhance the productivity of its pharmaceutical partners' pipelines, and in the Company's internal programs to identify promising compounds for proprietary development in the fields of inflammation, cardio-vascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, and related indications.

For more information, go to http://www.bioseekinc.com

 

 

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