Navigenics Launches With Preeminent Team of Advisers, Partners and Investors

Secures over $25 million in financing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield &

Byers, Sequoia Capital and Mohr Davidow Ventures

    REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Navigenics, Inc.
 launched officially today, naming a team of advisers and investors from
 leading communities in science, medicine, technology and public policy who
 are supporting the company.
     Navigenics is a cutting-edge personalized, preventive health and
 wellness company, dedicated to improving health outcomes. The company will
 help people understand their genetic predisposition to disease and arm them
 with the information about what actions to take to help them stay healthy.
 Navigenics will accomplish this initially through use of a saliva-based,
 whole genome scan and analysis, matching an individual's DNA against
 scientifically and clinically vetted gene-disease correlation studies.
     "The convergence of technology and biomedicine allows us to detect and
 act now to prevent the conditions that usually aren't revealed until later
 in life," said Navigenics board member David Brailer, M.D., Ph.D. "This is
 the direction that healthcare is heading, and Navigenics has the
 opportunity to do it right the first time."
     In 2007 alone, more than 50 high-quality studies correlating genetics
 to more than a dozen diseases have been published in respected journals
 such as Science, Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine. These
 studies are based on complex genetics, using high-density whole genome
 scanning technology, with utility proven by hundreds of researchers
 worldwide over the past few years. The company intends to adopt new
 technologies, such as genome sequencing, as they become affordable and
 reliable.
     The Healthcare Revolution
     "Navigenics transforms healthcare by unraveling the mystery of your
 genes and helping you make informed, personal health decisions," said
 Navigenics board member John Doerr. "And the company is attracting
 world-class partners and institutions to ensure state-of-the-art medical
 advice and services."
     Navigenics is developing relationships with leading medical
 institutions, including Cleveland Clinic, Georgetown University, Mayo
 Clinic, Scripps Health, and Partners HealthCare, an integrated health
 system founded by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General
 Hospital and a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
 These institutions have the expertise in genomic medicine to support
 customers in follow-up care and diagnosis.
     The company has also signed agreements with Mayo Clinic to provide
 health information on the Navigenics website, with Medscape to develop
 Continuing Medical Education (CME) materials for physicians, and with
 Affymetrix, Inc. ( AFFX) to provide lab services via its
 CLIA-certified laboratory in Sacramento, California.
     "Quality is critical to doing this right," said Mari Baker, president
 and CEO of Navigenics. "We are working diligently with leading scientists,
 clinicians, genetic counselors, medical institutions and other partners to
 bring to individuals a service that is reliable and secure, and information
 that is understandable and actionable."
     Key Advisers
     Navigenics has established a group of clinical, scientific, policy and
 ethics advisers, bringing together some of the industry's top minds to the
 issue of consumer-empowered genetic health information. These include:
     -- David Agus, M.D., Chair, Clinical Advisory Board. Navigenics Co-
        founder, Research Director of the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center
        and Director of the Spielberg Family Center for Applied Proteomics at
        Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
 
            Additional members of the Clinical Advisory Board
            -- Carlos Camargo, M.D., Emeritus Clinical Professor of Medicine,
               Stanford University;
            -- Daniel Federman, M.D., Carl W. Walter Distinguished Professor of
               Medicine, Harvard Medical School;
            -- Bruce Landon, M.D., M.B.A., M.Sc., Associate Professor of Health
               Care, Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor of
               Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center;
            -- Redonda Miller, M.D., M.B.A., Associate Professor of Medicine,
               Johns Hopkins University;
            -- Michael Nierenberg, M.D., Medical Director, Navigenics and
               Emeritus Clinical Professor of Medicine, Stanford University.
 
     -- Jeffrey Trent, Ph.D., Chair, Scientific Advisory Board, President and
        Scientific Director, Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).
 
            Additional members of the Scientific Advisory Board
            -- David Botstein, Ph.D., Anthony B. Evnin Professor of Genomics,
               Princeton University and Member, National Academy of Science;
            -- Isaac Kohane, M.D., Ph.D., Henderson Associate Professor of
               Pediatrics and Health Sciences and Health Sciences and
               Technology, Harvard Medical School;
            -- Nicholas J. Schork, Ph.D., Director of Research, Scripps Genomic
               Medicine and Professor, Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The
               Scripps Research Institute;
            -- Dietrich Stephan, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer,
               Navigenics; Deputy Director for Discovery Research,
               Translational Genomics Research Institute;  Director and Senior
               Investigator, Neurogenomics Division, TGen;  Chairman, NIH
               Neuroscience Microarray Consortium.
 
     -- Peggy G. Conrad, M.S., CGC, Chair, Genetic Counseling Task Force.  Ms.
        Conrad is a practicing genetic counselor who helped to establish the
        University of California-San Francisco Familial Gastrointestinal Cancer
        Program. She has more than 10 years' experience in both the clinical
        and research aspects of hereditary cancer genetics. Along with her
        genetic counseling expertise, she brings with her experience from her
        earlier career as a project manager for a pharmaceutical advertising
        and marketing firm.
 
            Additional members of the Genetic Counseling Task Force
            -- Elissa Levin, M.S., CGC Genetics Counseling Program Director,
               Navigenics;
            -- Kelly Ormond, M.S., CGC, Associate Professor in the Department
               of Genetics and Director of the Human Genetics and Genetic
               Counseling graduate training program at Stanford University;
               past president, National Society of Genetic Counselors.
 
     -- Greg Simon, J.D., Chair, Policy and Ethics Task Force, President of
        FasterCures-The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions.
 
            Additional members of the Policy and Ethics Task Force
            -- Rachel Grob, M.A., Ph.D., Associate Dean of Graduate Studies,
               Director Child Development Institute, Sarah Lawrence College,
               and Investigator in Health Policy Research, funded by the Robert
               Wood Johnson Foundation, 2006-09;
            -- Kathi Hanna, M.S., Ph.D., analyst, writer, and editor
               specializing in biomedical research policy, previously, Research
               Director and Editorial Consultant to President Clinton's
               National Bioethics Advisory Commission;
            -- Paul Slovic, Ph.D., Founder and President, Decision Research.
     Series B Financing
     Navigenics is also announcing that it has closed a Series B financing
 round, led by new investor MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures, and with continued
 pro rata investments from A-round investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield and
 Byers and Sequoia Capital. The company has raised more than $25 million in
 funding to date. As part of the investment from MDV, Sue Siegel has joined
 the Navigenics board of directors.
     The Navigenics board of directors includes:
     -- David Agus, M.D., Co-founder, Navigenics
     -- Mari Baker, President and CEO, Navigenics
     -- David Brailer, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, Health Evolution Partners
     -- John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
     -- Dana G. Mead, Jr., Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
     -- Sue Siegel, Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures
     About Navigenics
     Navigenics is a privately held company based in Redwood Shores,
 California. The company was founded by David Agus, M.D. and Dietrich
 Stephan, Ph.D., with the overall goal of improving health outcomes in
 individuals across the population. Navigenics educates and empowers
 customers with knowledge of their genetic predispositions, and then
 motivates them to act on the information to prevent the onset of disease,
 achieve earlier diagnosis, appropriately manage disease, or otherwise
 lessen its impact. Navigenics' lead investors are Kleiner Perkins Caufield
 and Byers, Sequoia Capital and MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures. More information
 at http://www.navigenics.com.
     FOR MORE INFORMATION:
     Jeremiah Hall
     Jeremiah.hall@fkhealth.com
     Feinstein Kean Healthcare
     (415) 519-0207
 
 

SOURCE Navigenics, Inc.