KINGSTON, Ontario ¿ Cytochroma Inc., has received C$2.1 million (US$1.4 million) in financing from three major Canadian investment funds: the Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund (CMDF), of London, the largest venture capital investor in Canada¿s life sciences sector; Working Ventures Canadian Fund of Toronto, Canada¿s largest labor-sponsored venture capital fund; and GeneChem of Montreal, a limited partnership venture capital fund fully dedicated to the genomics industry. This round of financing follows initial seed investments totaling C$330,000 by University Medical Discoveries Inc. (UMDI) of Toronto, a seed-stage investment company affiliated with the CMDF.

The company was founded in December 1996 by Parteq Innovations, the technology transfer arm of Queen¿s University at Kingston, and two founding principal scientists, Glenville Jones and Martin Petkovich, an Associate Professor in Biochemistry at Queen¿s, both internationally recognized for their expertise in the field of cytochrome P450s.

The central focus of Cytochroma is towards this large family of inducible cytochrome P450 enzymes that are involved in the metabolism of natural signaling molecules and drugs. The cytochrome P450 family of genes plays a pivotal role in the metabolism of a wide variety of endogenous and exogenous compounds such as steroids, cholesterol, vitamins and drugs.

Few Companies Share Focus

Commenting on the investment, Calvin Stiller, chairman and CEO of CMDF, said that, to his knowledge, very few companies in the world are focused on these particular cytochromes. Cytochroma has developed a method of cloning new cytochrome P450 genes and has already identified one important cytochrome, P450, using this technique. The company also holds proprietary interest in the key enzymes involved in vitamins A and D metabolism. The company also has developed high-throughput biochemical assays to search for specific inhibitors of the proteins. These inhibitors may allow modulation of human drug metabolism and may find application in a number of skin and fungal diseases, as well as a variety of cancers.

The company has recently moved into new laboratory space at Queen¿s Bioscience Centre, and the new funding will allow it to accelerate research and development programs and double its staff to complement 12 scientists. Technology developed by Cytochroma will be applied in the treatment of leukemia, skin diseases, fungal diseases, and a variety of carcinomas including prostate and breast cancer. n