Pfenex

San Diego, United States Founded: 2009 • Age: 17 yrs Listed Acquired By Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Clinical-stage development of non-glycosylated biosimilar therapeutics

About Pfenex

Pfenex is a Healthcare company based in San Diego (United States) founded in 2009, and was acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals in August 2020. Clinical-stage development of non-glycosylated biosimilar therapeutics. Pfenex has raised $24 million across 1 funding round from investors including Dow, Ligand Pharmaceuticals and Signet Healthcare Partners. The company has 80 employees. Pfenex offers products and services including Pfenex Expression Technology, Prima RNApols, and PeliCRM197. Its focus areas include Life Sciences, Ophthalmology, Drugs and Diversified. Its legal entity is Primrose Bio, Inc. Its competitors include Kriya Therapeutics, Annexon and Aldeyra; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.

Company details

Pfenex is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on recombinant protein expression for applications including therapeutic proteins, vaccines, research, reagents and biosimilars. The companys lead product candidate (in partnership with Pfizer) is PF582, a biosimilar candidate to Lucentis (ranibizumab), for the potential treatment of patients with retinal diseases. In addition, Pfenex has seven other biosimilars in various stages of development, including three with India-based Strides Acrolab, and two vaccines for anthrax and malaria.

Operational Areas
Key Metrics
  • Total Equity Funding
    $24M (USD)

    in 1 rounds

  • Latest Funding Round
    $24M (USD), Series A

    Dec 2009

  • Investors
    Dow

    & 2 more

  • Employee Count
    80
  • Acquired by

Products & Services of Pfenex

Pfenex offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Pfenex Expression Technology, Prima RNApols, and PeliCRM197.

Pfenex Expression Technology
Protein Expression Platform

Platform for high-yield recombinant protein production using Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Prima RNApols
Nucleic Acid Tool

System for mRNA manufacturing and evaluation in therapeutic applications.

PeliCRM197
Protein Product

Carrier protein for vaccines and biologics production.

Funding Insights of Pfenex

Pfenex has successfully raised a total of $24M through 1 strategic funding round. The most recent funding activity was a Series A round of $24 million completed in December 2009. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.

  • Total Funding $24M
  • Total Rounds 1
  • Last Round Series A β€” $24M
  • First Round $24M

    (Dec 2009)

  • Investors Count 2

All 1 funding rounds of Pfenex with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.

DateAmountTransaction NameValuationLead InvestorsInvestors
Dec 2009$24MSeries A––
Valuation history

3 investors in total: 3 institutional.

Investors in Pfenex

Pfenex has secured backing from 3 investors, including institutional and venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Dow, Ligand Pharmaceuticals and Signet Healthcare Partners.

All
Venture Fund
Institutional
InvestorDescriptionFounded YearDomainLocation
PE firm investing in North America and Europe
signethealthcarepartners.comNew York, United States
Dow Inc. is engaged in materials science and chemical manufacturing.
1897dow.comSaginaw, United States
Pharmaceutical drugs are manufactured and developed in the United States.
1987ligand.comSan Diego, United States
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Investor details for Pfenex

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People of Pfenex

2 people are tracked at Pfenex (2 in leadership); the tracked headcount is 80.

NameRoleGroup
Eef Schimmelpennink
Chief Executive OfficerLeadership
Ryan Haverstock
Director, Business DevelopmentLeadership
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Complete people profiles for Pfenex

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Timeline of Pfenex

4 dated milestones of Pfenex across 11 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.

  1. Founded Pfenex is founded.
  2. Funding First funding round of $24.0M.
  3. IPO Lists on the stock exchange (IPO).
  4. Exit Acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

Competitors of Pfenex

Pfenex has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Kriya Therapeutics, Annexon and Aldeyra.

Company NameDomainFoundedHQ LocationTotal fundingEmployeesDescription
kriyatherapeutics.com2012Redwood, United States$930.93M159
Developer of therapeutic solutions for the treatment of diabetes
annexonbio.com2011San Francisco, United States$256M80
Developer of antibodies to treat complement-mediated neurodegenerative diseases
aldeyra.com2004Lexington, United States$4.79M30
Drug candidates for immune-mediated diseases are developed by Aldeyra.
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Detailed competitors of Pfenex

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Web traffic of Pfenex

Websites that share an audience with Pfenex (pfenex.com).

Similar websites

Websites whose visitors overlap most with Pfenex. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.

WebsiteDomainAudience affinityMonthly visitsGlobal rankProfile
echotx.com
100%
View details

Top companies in Ophthalmology

3 companies that operate in the same segment as Pfenex (Ophthalmology) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.

CompanyDescriptionFoundedLocationTotal fundingRevenueEmployees
Developer of a wide range of eye care products
1945Fort Worth, Texas, United StatesUSD 171.61 MUSD 9.64 B25,600
Genetic medicines are developed by 4DMT for transformative therapies.
2013Emeryville, California, United StatesUSD 186.59 MUSD 85.21 M227
Developer of antibodies to treat complement-mediated neurodegenerative diseases
2011San Francisco, California, United StatesUSD 256 M100
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Related news about Pfenex

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Frequently Asked Questions about Pfenex

Pfenex was founded in 2009.

Pfenex is headquartered in San Diego, United States. It is registered at San Diego, California, United States.

Pfenex is a funded company, having raised a total of $24M across 1 funding round to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $24M, raised on Dec 2009.

Pfenex has 80 employees.

Pfenex is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on recombinant protein expression for applications including therapeutic proteins, vaccines, research, reagents and biosimilars. The companys lead product candidate (in partnership with Pfizer) is PF582, a biosimilar candidate to Lucentis (ranibizumab), for the potential treatment of patients with retinal diseases. In addition, Pfenex has seven other biosimilars in various stages of development, including three with India-based Strides Acrolab, and two vaccines for anthrax and malaria.

Pfenex's top competitors include Annexon, Aldeyra and Kriya Therapeutics.

Pfenex offers Pfenex Expression Technology, Prima RNApols, and PeliCRM197.

Pfenex has 3 investors. Key investors include Dow, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, and Signet Healthcare Partners.

Pfenex operates through Primrose Bio, Inc..

Yes. Pfenex was acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals in August 2020.

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