Targacept has won an award for its ability to raise venture capital.
The Winston-Salem company, which is developing treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, won an Entrepreneurial Excellence Award on Friday from the Council for Entrepreneurial Development.
Targacept, a 1997 spinoff from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., won the 2003 Private Company Deal of the Year award for raising more venture capital in 2002 than any other company in the state. Targacept raised $46 million in December 2002, followed by an additional $14 million in March 2003.
“We are very pleased to receive this recognition from our colleagues at CED and are honored to be part of this celebration of the ongoing success of North Carolina biotechnology,” Targacept’s president and CEO Don deBethizy said. “Targacept was able to persevere during a difficult year for biotech deal-making and complete one of the largest VC rounds in the world in private biotech.”
The Council for Entrepreneurial Development recognized 16 North Carolina companies during a ceremony Friday at the RBC Center in Raleigh.
