Quark Pharma: Not quite such a chameleon, after all

Quark Pharma: Not quite such a chameleon, after all

Last June, I posted about the long and winding history of Fremont, Calif.-based Quark Pharmaceuticals, a biotech developing drugs based on a new gene-silencing technology called RNA interference, or RNAi. At the time, I labeled the company a biotech chameleon — a term I used to describe biotechs that reinvent themselves, often abruptly and without looking back.

In that sense, Quark is still a chameleon, by which I don’t mean anything pejorative — biotechs turn on… Continue Reading

RNA-drug developer Quark aims for $30M after failed IPO

RNA-drug developer Quark aims for $30M after failed IPO

Fremont, Calif.-based Quark Pharmaceuticals, a biotech developing drugs based on a new technology called RNA interference, hopes to raise $30 million in an eighth funding round, VentureWire reports. Last year, Quark sought $80.5 million in an ultimately abortive IPO.

Quark apparently hopes to close the round within the next few weeks. The company hasn’t given up hope of going public, and now envisions re-filing its IPO in mid-2009. Quark, a biotech chameleon with a long and… Continue Reading