EQS-News

Nextech Invest Portfolio Company Kura Oncology completes Public Offering at NASDAQ

EQS Group-News: Nextech Invest Ltd. / Key word(s): IPO
Nextech Invest Portfolio Company Kura Oncology completes Public
Offering at NASDAQ

09.11.2015 / 10:00

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Press Release
Nextech Invest Portfolio Company Kura Oncology completes Public Offering at
NASDAQ

Zurich (Switzerland), November 9, 2015 - Nextech Invest Ltd., the Swiss
specialist oncology private equity investor, today announced that portfolio
company Kura Oncology (La Jolla, California, USA) has completed its public
offering of common stock at the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the
symbol "KURA" and raised gross proceeds of USD 50 million. In addition,
Kura Oncology will grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to
an additional 15 percent of the shares offered in the public offering to
cover over-allotments.

Kura Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the
discovery and development of precision medicines for the treatment of solid
tumors and blood cancers. Nextech Invest engaged in an investment with Kura
Oncology in March 2015 in the company's first financing round of USD 60
million to develop Kura Oncology's drug candidates, including tipifarnib,
currently in Phase II studies, as well as several other preclinical
pipeline programs. Kura Oncology was the second investment of Nextech
Invest's Fund IV. With the IPO proceeds the company plans to advance its
pipeline of cancer drugs further into the clinic. For Nextech Invest, Kura
Oncology is the fifth company of their portfolio to successfully list on
NASDAQ.

Dr. Alfred Scheidegger, CEO and founding partner of Nextech Invest, stated,
"In only a few months after our initial investment, the company
successfully leveraged the recent advancements in cancer genetics with
next-generation sequencing to identify a patient population that is
predicted to respond to tipifarnib therapy and has consequently initiated
two Phase II clinical studies. This is a remarkable progress achieved by an
outstanding team of experts."

Nextech Invest currently holds ten companies in its portfolio, all focusing
on a variety of cancer treatments and indications. The portfolio includes
Blueprint Medicines [NASDAQ: BPMC], ImaginAb, Jounce Therapeutics,
MacroGenics [NASDAQ: MGNX], MolecularMD, Peloton Therapeutics, Sunesis
Pharmaceuticals [NASDAQ: SNSS], TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals [NASDAQ: TLOG],
and TRACON Pharmaceuticals [NASDAQ: TCON]. From its fourteen oncology
investments since 2007, Nextech Invest has made three full exits, two
partial exits and five IPOs.
About Kura Oncology
Kura Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the
discovery and development of precision medicines for the treatment of solid
tumors and blood cancers. Kura's pipeline consists of small molecules that
target cancer signaling pathways where there is a strong scientific and
clinical rationale to improve outcomes by identifying those patients most
likely to benefit from treatment. The company's lead drug candidate is
tipifarnib, a farnesyl transferase inhibitor that is currently in two Phase
II clinical studies: the first in patients with locally advanced tumors
that carry HRAS mutations and the second in patients with peripheral T-cell
lymphoma. The company's preclinical pipeline includes KO-947, an ERK
inhibitor, and a menin-MLL inhibitor program. For more information, please
visit http://www.kuraoncology.com/

About Nextech Invest Ltd.
The global oncology specialist private equity firm Nextech Invest Ltd.,
established in 1998 in Zurich, Switzerland, focuses on investing in cancer
companies. Supported by a Scientific Board of seven oncologists chaired by
Prof. Dr. David Livingston, Deputy Director of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer
Center, Nextech Invest invests in emerging companies with pioneering
innovations in cancer that have compounds entering clinical trials. The
other members of the Scientific Board include: Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz
Altmann, Prof. Dr. Philip Greenberg, Prof. Dr. William Kaelin, Dr. Charles
Sawyers, Prof. Dr. Paul Workman and distinguished scientific advisor Prof.
Dr. Sir Bruce Ponder. Nextech Invest is a longstanding member of SECA, and
works closely with the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).

For more information, please contact:
Thilo Schroeder
Nextech Invest Ltd.
Tel.: [phone]
[e-mail]
www.nextechinvest.com



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