Compugen to Raise $55 Mln at $280 Mln Value Tonight

Biotechnology company Compugen is due to hold an IPO on NASDAQ tonight. The company will seek to raise $55 million at a company value of $280 million. Compugen's issue has been considerably scaled down on account of market conditions. The company originally planned to raise $480 million, at a company value of $350-400 million, but rolled this back, because the primary market lost some of its buoyancy. Compugen will probably be glad if the financing round goes through without a hitch.

Compugen, whose chief R&D center is in Tel Aviv, is considered a pioneer in computerized genomics. The company develops new methods for the computerized research of protein, combining mathematics and computer science with molecular biology to improve the genomics research and the study of protein.

Compugen's products enable scientists to conduct research into new drugs and into diagnosis and treatment methods. The company supplies products and services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as to organizations engaged in life sciences-related research. Compugen also provides solutions to scientists engaged in independent research through its Internet site, www.LabOnWeb.com.

Compugen was set up in 1993 by Eli Mintz, Simchon Faigler and Amir Natan - all graduates of the Israel Defense Force's Talpiot project. Dr. Mor Amitai, who left Comverse to join Compugen in 1994, manages the company. Amitai has been Compugen's president since January 1998.

The company has 132 staff: 97 in R&D, 21 in administration and 14 in sales and marketing. 110 of its employees work in Israel and 22 in the US.

Published by Israel's Business Arena on 10 August, 2000

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