Diatos gets funding from Japanese venture capitalist

French privately held biopharmaceutical company Diatos, founded in 1999 as a spin-off from Institut Pasteur, has received an investment of Euro 2.5m - in part from existing investors and in part from a new investor, NIF Ventures, the leading Japanese venture capital company. This new investment completes the present round of venture funding and brings the total amount raised by Diatos in 2003 to Euro 9m. These funds will be used for the development of the company's lead anticancer therapies, based on its proprietary drug-targeting and intracellular-delivery technologies.

'European technology companies and, in particular, the European biotech sector are attractive investment areas, yet they are often overlooked by Asian private equity investors,' said Mizuhiko Hashimoto, general manager of NIF Ventures.

'This investment made by the major Japanese VC firm will assist Diatos to build corporate relationships and establish a presence in Asia,' added Dr John Tchelingerian, ceo of Diatos.

Diatos has two core technology platforms: Diatos Peptide Vector (DPV) technology enables or significantly enhances selective cellular or nuclear uptake of a broad range of therapeutic compounds, including small molecules, peptides and proteins, antibodies and antibody fragments, oligonucleotides, and nanospheres; while Tumor Selective Prodrug (TSP) technology enables the release of anticancer agents selectively at the sites of tumour cells.