Schering sells off half of metaGen

Apax Partners Funds (APF) have purchased 50% of the metaGen Gesellschaft fuer Genomforschung for €42 million from Schering. The company will change its name to metaGen Pharmaceuticals.

The metaGen Corporation was founded in 1996 as a 100% subsiduary of Berlin-based Schering to look for new approaches in the diagnosis and therapy of cancer diseases, with an emphasis on functional genome analysis.

APF will own 50% of the shares and 43.5% of the shares will remain in the ownership of Schering , with the other 6.5% belonging to metaGen's management. Dr Andre Rosenthal, whose metaGen management responsibilities encompass research and development, intends to purchase a further 5% from APF, increasing the management's share holding to 11.5%.

The biotech company will focus on the development of innovative medical drugs designed for cancer therapeutics.

'metaGen underwent outstanding growth and development during its first years with the Schering group,' Rosenthal said. 'In partnership with APF, we will develop a leading biotech company with an emphasis on cancer therapy. We have been working for more than four years in the area of functional genome analysis and are using the results of the human genome project in order to develop new agents and strategies for cancer therapy and diagnosis.'