SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/26/09 -- Mission Bay Capital (MBC), LLC., a newly-formed seed-stage venture capital firm focused on making pivotal investments in bioscience companies emerging from the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) and University of California, announced its first venture fund today. The $7.5 million Mission Bay Capital Fund will be invested in breakthrough companies whose founders or technologies are associated with the University of California system.

"Mission Bay Capital represents a novel marriage of our ability to find the most promising technologies within the University of California combined with the remarkable investment skills of some of the world's leading venture capitalists. Together we will fund promising, early-stage companies that might otherwise never see their products reach the marketplace," said Dr. Regis Kelly, pro-bono managing director of Mission Bay Capital and director of QB3. "The QB3 team is exceedingly aware of the gap between discovery and social benefit. Mission Bay Capital affords us the opportunity to help jumpstart bioscience companies, ultimately bringing much needed benefits to society in a timely manner."

"Wilson Sonsini has a long history nurturing early-stage companies and we are excited to be affiliated with Mission Bay Capital," said Larry Sonsini, Chairman of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. "Our firm is a Limited Partner in the MBC fund as we hope this effort helps garner more venture interest in UC entrepreneurs and also, over time, serves as a best practice for other universities. QB3 and Mission Bay Capital reflect the important collaboration of innovation and investment at the University level that will lead to the successful commercialization of technology and the creation of new enterprises to the benefit of our society. We are proud to be an integral part of this effort," added Sonsini.

Mission Bay Capital is managed by Regis Kelly, Ph.D., and Douglas Crawford, Ph.D., who jointly serve as Managing Directors of the fund in a pro-bono capacity. Both are employed by QB3, where Kelly is Director and Crawford is Associate Director. In addition to bringing needed products and companies to fruition, MBC will return 20% of its profit to the University of California to populate subsequent MBC funds and provide an endowment for QB3. Formed to help research laboratory discoveries commercialize more quickly, Mission Bay Capital is currently reviewing business plans from many QB3 and U.C.-related researchers.

Mission Bay Capital works closely with its pro-bono Investment Advisory Committee which includes Brian Atwood, Managing Partner, Versant Ventures; Brook Byers, senior partner, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers; Doug Cameron, Managing Director, Piper Jaffray & Co.; Ralph (Chris) Christoffersen, PhD., Partner, Morgenthaler Ventures; Luke Evnin, PhD., Managing Director, MPM Capital; Fred Cohen, M.D., Managing Partner, TPG Ventures and Professor, UCSF; Bill Ericson, Partner, MDV and John Wadsworth, Jr., Managing Director, Manitou Ventures. The Investment Advisory Council brings venture capital expertise to MBC and helps evaluate companies, ideas and investments on an ongoing basis.

Limited partners in the fund include Pfizer Inc.; John Wadsworth, Jr., of Manitou Ventures; and law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Investments, among others.

About Mission Bay Capital

Mission Bay Capital, LLC, is an independent seed-stage venture firm focused on making pivotal, investments in bioscience companies emerging from the University of California. Founded in August 2009, Mission Bay Capital combines the rich knowledge and navigation skills of QB3 executives -- Drs. Regis Kelly and Douglas Crawford -- with the experience and proven success of a renowned investment advisory committee led by Brook Byers and John Wadsworth. Mission Bay Capital is fueling breakthrough bioscience technologies to meet society's challenges while also helping to boost the California economy.

About QB3

The California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) is a consortium of more than 200 laboratories from three University of California campuses, at Berkeley (UCB), Santa Cruz (UCSC), and San Francisco (UCSF). Established in 2000, QB3 was created to fuel the California bio-economy. Armed with world-class researchers, state-of-the-art facilities and a collection of entrepreneurial resources, QB3 is a multi-disciplinary research institute designed to accelerate discovery and innovation to benefit society.