DzGenes sold to Viral Therapeutics

Margie Manning
St. Louis Business Journal

DzGenes LLC, a St. Louis biotech startup, was sold to Viral Therapeutics Inc. of Ithaca, N.Y. Viral Therapeutics purchased the assets of DzGenes in an all-stock transaction, said Dr. Lee Henderson, Viral Therapeutics' chief executive. He declined to disclose the value of the deal. Terry Kungel, who was chief executive and the only employee of DzGenes for the past several months, is in discussions with Henderson about joining Viral Therapeutics. DzGenes equipment is in storage and will be shipped to Viral Therapeutics in the next few weeks, Henderson said.

DzGenes was focused on helping pharmaceutical companies and health-care providers improve the effectiveness of drugs and boost clinical outcomes by addressing genetic variations among patients.

The company was founded in 1998 by Dr. David Moskowitz, who is now chairman and chief medical officer of GenoMed Inc., a St. Louis firm with a similar focus as DzGenes. Moskowitz left DzGenes in 2001.

Viral Therapeutics, which has an early drug pipeline in infectious disease, has been in business since 1995 and posted about $700,000 in revenue last year, Henderson said.