mphora Discovery Corp., a biotechnology start-up in North Carolina and client of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, has landed $25 million in Series A funding.
Caliper Technologies Corp. in Mountain View spun out Amphora to build a database for chemical genomics information designed to reduce the time and cost of drug development.
Brett White, a Palo Alto partner in Cooley Godward's business department, represented Caliper.
"The investors believe in them and believe there's a great market opportunity," White said.
Of the seven investors Amphora named in Caliper's Sept. 27 press release, CW Group, MPM Asset Management, Arch Venture Partners, Orbimed Advisors and Venrock Associates all previously held stakes in Caliper.
While Caliper's stock closed at $9.25 each on Sept. 28 - a far cry from its $16 IPO pricing in December 1999 - the company's stock traded in the $20 area as recently as July.
"So they know this technology and they know Amphora," White said.
Caliper also listed California Public Employees' Retirement System and Versant Ventures as investors in Amphora.
The investors have agreed to pony up an additional $10 million if Amphora asks.
At Wilson Sonsini, Palo Alto corporate and securities partner Michael O'Donnell led associates Martin Waters III, Michael Panepucci, Gavin McCraley and David Gan for Amphora.
Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault in Boston, Mass., represented the investors with counsel Alan Applebaum and associate Daniel Furman making up the deal team.
Caliper relied on in-house counsel Matthew Murphy and Donald Morrissey Jr. to take care of intellectual property matters.
