NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Cura-Gen has exercised its right under existing collaborative agreements with Biogen and Genentech to borrow a total of $26 million. Simultaneously, CuraGen converted these loans into approximately 1.6 million shares of CuraGen stock at $16 a share. These transactions increased Biogen's equity position in CuraGen by $10 million and Genentech's position by $16 million, combining to provide CuraGen with an additional $26 million in cash. This follows a $15 million private placement investment in CuraGen by Pequot Capital Management last month.
In other news, the company has appointed Christopher McLeod as executive vice-president and Peter Lomedico as vice-president of discovery research. Reporting to chairman and CEO Jonathan Rothberg, McLeod will oversee bioinformatics and strategic business development and participate in the execution of overall corporate operations. Lomedico will work closely with the company's business development team, overseeing all external collaborations. Previously, he was vice-president of human genetics at Genome Therapeutics.