CODA Genomics Closes Investment Led by Tech Coast Angels
 

October 5, 2005 – Irvine, CA -- CODA Genomics, Inc.(CODA), a synthetic biology and protein expression company, announced today that it has closed a Series A funding of over $ 800,000 from the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). Jay S. Kunin, Ph.D. and Robert Engler, MD have joined the CODA Board of Directors as investor representatives. Dr. Kunin is an independent consultant, investor, and expert in medical and pharmaceutical software. He is also a Director of several companies, TCA San Diego Network, and the Life Science Information Technology Global Institute. Dr. Engler was a Professor of Medicine, UCSD, in Cardiology from 1975-2001. He has authored 19 book chapters and over 80 scientific publications, and was a founder of Gensia, Collateral Therapeutics, and the Veterans Medical Research Foundation. He currently is a cardiovascular consultant, angel investor and Director of a number of private, public, and non-profit corporations.

Dr. Robert Molinari, CEO of CODA comments, “We are delighted to have TCA invest in CODA. With synthetic biology becoming an important investment area, TCA, with many experienced life science entrepreneurs as members, is ideally suited to lead this investment.

TCA, the largest U.S. angel investor network, provides funding and guidance to most early-stage companies in Southern California. Since 1997, TCA members have invested $58 million in 91 companies and have leveraged these investments into more than $552 million in venture co-investment for TCA portfolio companies. TCA offers not only capital, but also mentoring, recruiting help, and access to investors and partners. TCA has more than 270 members in its four networks in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Westlake/Santa Barbara.

CODA was started in 2004 to commercialize DNA assembly and protein expression work, developed under an Information Technology Research award from the National Science Foundation, from the laboratories of Drs. Richard Lathrop and G. Wesley Hatfield at the University of California, Irvine. In addition to DNA thermodynamics, CODA optimizes codon usage preferences AND codon pair-wise combinations to generate high levels of the proper protein constructs. CODA offers CODExpress gene kits and assembled genes that are guaranteed to express specific proteins, and collaborative protein drug optimization projects. CODA’s patented Translation Engineering creates DNA constructs that enable directed research on protein structure/function properties such as solubility, excretion, and folding.