ProQuest Fund Holds Final Close –

PRINCETON, N.J. – ProQuest Investments I L.P., a medically focused venture fund, held a $100 million final close in late May. The vehicle will invest in seed-stage to public companies in the pharmaceutical, health-care device, Internet and service industries in the United States and overseas. Launched in February 1998, ProQuest held a $40.5 million first close in August 1998 and a second close on $21 million the following month.

ProQuest Associates L.L.C. is headed by Jeremy Goldberg, a founder of several biopharmaceutical companies, and Jay Moorin, former CEO and president of Magainin Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Goldberg said he was actively sourcing deals, but he declined to comment on how much of the fund was committed.

Limited partners include financial institutions, foundations, a pharmaceutical company, high-net-worth individuals and family trusts, which Mr. Goldberg declined to name.

The firm also raised ProQuest Companion Fund, which closed in mid-May, for a select group of limited partners, including executives and scientific/clinical advisers, to help form strategic relationships with ProQuest Investments. The firm raised approximately 5% of the original fund, Mr. Goldberg said.

ProQuest already has made three investments in companies that are working on the care and cure of cancer, such as Ablation Technologies Inc., a San Diego-based medical device company that develops non-radioactive seeds for localized prostate cancer. Domain Associates, a life sciences venture captial firm, is ProQuest’s leading sponsor.

The fund’s second investment was in U.S. Bioscience, a pharmaceutical company that develops a drug to make patients more sensitive to radiation, thereby reducing the dose of radiation in cancer treatments. ProQuest and Domain invested $20 million in the company.

Epic Therapeutics, the fund’s third investment, develops new drug delivery systems. ProQuest, Bessemer Venture Partners, MPM Asset Management L.L.C. and BancBoston Ventures invested $12.5 million.