Press Releases

Bridge Announces Closing of its $35 Million Series B Capital Raise to Accelerate its China and US 'Hybrid' CRO Model

February 14, 2007 - So. San Francisco, CA

San Francisco, CA February 13, 2007 – Bridge Laboratories, the leading preclinical Contract Research Organization in China, announced today that it has recently closed a $35 million Series B round of financing. Returning investors were joined in this financing by new venture investor Granite Global Ventures (GGV).

Helen Wong, Director of Granite Global Ventures, has joined the Bridge board. Helen is a founding member of GGV and is based in its Shanghai office. In addition to her board seats at various other GGV portfolio companies, Helen has been involved in GGV's healthcare investments and has helped several U.S. portfolio companies develop their China strategies. She was selected as the first international Kauffman Fellow, a fellowship sponsored by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

The capital raised will be used to accelerate growth of Bridge's preclinical operations in China, as well as to support M&A activities, including its recent acquisition of the Preclinical Division of Gene Logic Inc. in December, 2006. In addition, Bridge plans to initiate construction of a second vivarium in Beijing shortly.

About Granite Global Ventures

Granite Global Ventures is a leader in expansion-stage venture capital investments in the United States and Asia. Focused on expanding global innovation, GGV's highly diverse team manages over $800 million from its offices in Silicon Valley, Shanghai, and Singapore. The firm invests across a range of sectors in information technology, services and healthcare, as well as emerging industry segments in Asia. GGV has provided capital and helped accelerate international business development for its worldwide portfolio of high-growth companies, particularly in the U.S. and China. GGV's portfolio includes Alibaba.com (combined with Yahoo!), Xenoport (NASDAQ:XNPT), AAC Acoustics (HKSE:2018), Biosensors (B20.SI), Isilon (NASDAQ: ISLN), and Boston-Power. Recent exits include Sirna Therapeutics (acquired by Merck), Qpass (acquired by Amdocs), Xfire (acquired by Viacom), and Oculex (acquired by Allergan). The total market value of GGV's exits since the firm's formation in 2000 now exceeds $7 billion. For more information, please visit www.ggvc.com.

About Pharmaron

Founded in 2003, Pharmaron is a leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug R&D CRO, with operations in China and the United States. Clients include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic and government organizations. As a research-driven and customer-focused company, Pharmaron provides a broad, integrated portfolio of laboratory and manufacturing services from drug discovery to IND submission. These services are designed to help its global partners improve the success of research and shorten the time of development cost effectively in discovering and developing drugs. For more information about Pharmaron, please visit http://www.pharmaron.com.