Amphion Partner Company, WellGen Inc.,
Completes $9.5 million Series C Financing
London and New York, 29 October 2007 - Amphion Innovations plc (LSE: AMP) the developer of medical and technology businesses, today announces that one of its Partner Companies, WellGen, Inc., a biotechnology company using nutrigenomics to discover and develop food ingredients for wellness products, has raised $9.5 million in an oversubscribed Series C financing at $2.50 per share. Amphion now owns approximately 15.3 per cent of the issued voting share capital on a fully diluted basis. Following this fundraising, WellGen is now valued at $61.6 million post new money.
The capital raised from this latest round of financing will help WellGen advance its anti-obesity ingredient for functional foods, including the launch of a human study that has already received Institutional Review Board approval, and to conduct further studies on its recently patented product, WG0401, an enriched black tea extract which has demonstrated inflammation-fighting properties in multiple studies in humans. The financing will also enable WellGen to complete fully equipping a state-of-the-art molecular biology and natural products chemistry laboratory, and hire additional technical personnel. In addition, WellGen is working to fill its pipeline with new, scientifically validated ingredients with health benefits for food and beverage applications. The Company also anticipates advancing several new ingredient candidates in the new facilities before the year’s end.
Dr. Kathleen Mullinix, Chief Executive Officer of WellGen, said, “We are very pleased with WellGen’s progress as we are in the midst of bringing our first ingredient to market. This new round of financing will help us reinforce WellGen’s early leadership position in the emerging field of nutrigenomics and functional foods.”
In July 2007 a patent was awarded for WG0401 and its proven inflammation-fighting properties. WG0401 will initially be marketed as a functional food ingredient that promotes joint health and comfort, supports immune-system defense and anti-aging, and contributes to cardiovascular health. The Company is also studying additional uses for the product.
Richard Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of Amphion Innovations plc, said: “We are very pleased with the investment community’s enthusiastic response to this financing. WellGen continues to make great strides as a Partner Company and we believe that its exceptional scientific and managerial team is on the cusp of creating significant value from the Company’s proprietary products and technologies.”
For further information please contact
Amphion Innovations plc
Charlie Morgan, Director of Communications
+1 212 210 6224
Financial Dynamics
Ben Atwell
+44 20 7831 3113
Charles Stanley Securities
Mark Taylor
+44 20 7149 6000
About Amphion Innovations plc
Amphion Innovations plc (LSE: AMP) builds shareholder value in high growth companies in the medical and technology sectors. Amphion uses a focused, hands-on company building approach based on decades of experience in both the US and UK.
On the web: www.amphionplc.com
About WellGen
WellGen, Inc., based in North Brunswick, NJ, is a biotechnology company that is discovering and developing products for food, therapeutics, and dietary supplement markets with a strategic focus on functional foods. WellGen's proprietary technology platform is a method of screening the effect of food and related substances on the expression of genes associated with human health conditions. The company has developed proprietary substances that help maintain health and reduce risk and severity for a variety of diseases.
On the web: www.wellgen.com
