SCRA announces investment in Kiyatec

SUMMERVILLE, SC – SCRA announced that its Stage 2 affiliate has made an investment in Upstate company KIYATEC. Based in Greenville, S.C. at Greenville Health Systems Institute for Translational Oncology Research, KIYATEC offers cell-based drug response profiling services to help pharmaceutical and biotech companies make clinically relevant decisions using the company’s unique three dimensional cell culture technology platform. KIYATEC provides data generation and assay development services for use on drugs candidates prior to their testing in clinical trials and is pursuing a future clinical market opportunity to assist oncologists in personalized drug selection for individual cancer patients based on the drug response of tissues made from their live tumor cells, ultimately providing better patient outcomes.

“This strategic investment will enable KIYATEC to accelerate the growth of the company’s pre-clinical services business and further develop its future clinical services offering,” said Martin Ettlemyer, SCRA Vice President, Strategic Investments and Stage 2 Portfolio Manager.

“Our Stage 2 program uses retained earnings from SCRA’s core R&D operations to fulfill our mission to grow South Carolina’s high-tech landscape,” said SCRA CEO Bill Mahoney. “We have a long history with KIYATEC, first making an investment through our SC Launch program in 2008 and making several subsequent investments since. We are pleased to provide this additional capital, which will enable the company to continue its growth in South Carolina.”

SCRA’s Stage 2 sponsors larger investments, from $1-5 million, in more mature South Carolina-based technology companies. Capital is invested together with outside, private co-investments on a deal-by-deal basis.

http://www.scra.org/

SCRA is a self-sustaining non-profit R&D company that grows the technology-based economy in South Carolina by commercializing intellectual property and supporting and making investments in early-stage companies. Multiple economic impact studies show our cumulative output into South Carolina’s economy to be over $18.1 billion since 1983, creating 15,000 technology-related jobs with annual wages averaging between $55,000 and $77,000.