450,000 shares—about half of its stake—at $5.95 apiece on Dec. 15, according to this regulatory filing. That generated about $2.7 million in revenue for the firm.
Things have continued to get better for OncoGenex since then. The company presented a detailed, final analysis of the clinical trial last month at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference. The more in-depth analysis confirmed that the OncoGenex drug significantly lowered the risk of death in a clinical trial. The stock has continued on a bull run since the scientific meeting, trading at over $20 now for a full week. If Ventures West was able to cash out 475,000 shares at $20 apiece in the last week, that would be about $10 million.
OncoGenex was founded in 2000, and raised more than $35 million in three venture rounds before it first attempted to go public on the NASDAQ in December 2006, according to this story from the Vancouver Sun. (It never went public via the traditional offering to new investors, but did so by merging with another company, Sonus Pharmaceuticals.)
Ventures West has been invested in OncoGenex since at least October 2003, when it led a $11.5 million financing, according to this press release. Ventures West also participated in a $12.8 million round in August 2005. It was joined in the last venture financing by HIG Ventures, Business Development Bank of Canada, the Working Opportunity Fund managed by GrowthWorks Capital, William Harris Investors, and BC Advantage Funds.
