Genesis R&D taps international partner for new subsidiary

By Paul McBeth

July 1 – Genesis Research and Development Corp., the Auckland-based biotechnology company, will tap an international venture capital group to partner on a new subsidiary to undertake its gene silencing project.

The company expects to finalise the new investment within the next few weeks, and will retain a majority holding in the subsidiary, chief executive Stephen Hall told BusinessWire. The company that told shareholders yesterday it has an “urgent” need for cash, with funds on hand currently standing at NZ$300,000. Genesis will offer a share purchase plan to raise funds while it attempts to sell some assets and recoup debt.

“In biotechnology you’re never confident until the deal is done, but I think we’ve got technology which will hopefully win through,” Hall said. “The share purchase plan will raise money for ongoing operations at Genesis.”

Genesis applied to patent its gene silencing technology, which uses RNA interference to target the growth and drug resistance of cancer cells. The company confirmed it would focus on the technology in April and last month announced it would seek a partner to continue its development of the RNAi mechanism.

Hall said it may take two to three years to sell its Real Time Genomics unit which is building genomic applications to help improve DNA sequencing technology, Real Time has been well-supported by Microsoft, he said.

If the company can secure some NZ$2 million of money owed by Pure Power Global, a company in which it holds a NZ$600,000 stake, its financial position would be much more stable, Hall said.

Shares in Genesis jumped some 50% to 15 cents as 7,000 shares changed hands. The shares were as low as 2.5 cents on March 12.

(BusinessWire)

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