Pappas Ventures Closes on Fourth Fund
Posted: 03-11-2009 : RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Pappas Ventures announced the final closing of its fourth fund, a $102 million venture capital fund focused on the life sciences sector. Like its immediate predecessor funds, Pappas Ventures IV will invest in product-oriented biopharmaceutical companies, with a secondary focus on medical technologies.

“We are very pleased to have reached this important milestone,” said Eric W. Linsley, a partner at Pappas Ventures. “The new fund speaks to the strong support we have received from our investors – both new and old – and the track record that our firm has built over the past 15 years.” The North Carolina-based firm expects to invest in approximately 12 to 15 portfolio companies over the next several years. It is now actively evaluating potential investments.

In tandem with the closing, Pappas Ventures announced the promotion of two executives, Rosina Maar Pavia, MD, and Sean McCarthy, PhD, to partner and senior principal, respectively. Maar Pavia joined Pappas in 2000 and has most recently served as a venture partner for the firm. An internist with extensive drug development experience, she held senior management positions at contract research organizations prior to joining Pappas. She is currently a director of Bayhill Therapeutics, a Pappas Ventures II portfolio company, and she represents Pappas as an observer at Syndax Pharmaceuticals and Cequent Pharmaceuticals. McCarthy joined Pappas in 2006, after serving as a business development executive at SGX Pharmaceuticals and as a manager of drug discovery programs at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. He is an observer at several Pappas Ventures III portfolio companies, including CoLucid Pharmaceuticals and TyRx Pharma.

“We are pleased to recognize the contributions that both Rosina, over nearly a decade, and Sean, over a shorter period, have made to the development and success of our firm,” said Linsley. “They both know how to build value for our portfolio companies – and our investors.”

The firm also announced that partner Arthur Klausner will leave Pappas Ventures later this year.

About Pappas Ventures
Founded in 1994, Pappas Ventures invests exclusively in the life sciences sector – biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, drug delivery, medical devices and related ventures. With the recent closing, Pappas Ventures has more than $350 million in capital under management, and has guided the launch and/or development of more than 40 life sciences companies, including Cerexa (acquired by Forest Laboratories), Peninsula Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), Syntonix (acquired by Biogen IDEC), NuVasive (IPO), and Arena Pharmaceuticals (IPO). For more information about Pappas Ventures, please visit www.pappasventures.com.