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New Face on Pharm Team
Smiles all around as Achillion opens doors on George Street
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Business New Haven
12/11/2000
By: BNH
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Political swells from City Hall and Hartford were in fine fettle December 1 as they basked in the reflected glory of New Haven's newest biotech baby, Achillion Pharmaceuticals.
Founded only in February as one of the largest biotech startups in history, Achillion officially opened its doors at the rechristened George Street Technology Center, formerly known as “that ugly blue SNET building” at 300 George.
Achillion President, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer William G. Rice was on hand to welcome a tanned Gov. John G. Rowland, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. and officials from Connecticut Innovations Inc. (CII), Connecticut United for Research Excellence (CURE) and Yale University.
“Not only is our company opening doors in the area of anti-viral research, but we are an example of the doors that can open for biotechnology companies in the New Haven area when there is a cooperative effort between the state of Connecticut, city of New Haven, Yale University and the business and biotech communities,” Rice said. “Together, they are opening doors to make Connecticut the ideal location for new business.”
Rowland and DeStefano praised Achillion for choosing to call New Haven home, and agreed that the move opened door for other technology-based firms to locate in Connecticut as well.
Initially financed to the tune of $17.2 million by Boston-based Schroder Ventures, Atlas Venture and Advent International in partnership with CII, Achillion last month was staked to an additional $6.5 million by the same investors.
Partnered with Yale, Achillion is dedicated to the discovery and commercial development of therapeutic agents, especially anti-viral drugs to treat diseases caused by hepatitis B and C viruses, herpes viruses and HIV.
The firm's drug-discovery arsenal includes both conventional medicinal chemistry approaches directed at molecular targets, as well as its proprietary Zinc Finger Targeting (ZFT) drug-discovery technology.
The company originally planned to locate in New Jersey. But it came to Connecticut to enter into a partnership with Yale and Yale researcher Yung-Chi Cheng, who has developed several new anti-viral compounds.
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