A complex story to some extent indicative of the early years of Biotech. The merger of Megabios Corporation and GeneMedicine, Inc. in March 1999 originally formed Valentis Inc. (NASDAQ:VLTS), based in Burlingame, CA and addressing development of procducts for peripeheral arterial disease. Organized around development of gene medicine biopharmaceuticals, at the time Vanetis had three product platforms for the development of novel therapeutics: the gene medicine, GeneSwitch and DNA vaccine platforms, Valentis had developed synthetic vaccine delivery systems based on several classes of polymers and had proprietary PINC (polymeric, non-condensing) polymer-based delivery technologies for intramuscular administration providing for higher and more consistent levels of antigen production. In 2006 San Diego based Inivio Biomedical (developing late-stage cancer therapies) acquired from Valentis its gene regulation, a synthetic gene delivery system, some catioic lipids and some expression technologies. In October of the same year, Valentis signed a merger agreement with Urigen Inc - also based in Burlingame. The latter firm took over the VLTS, shifted trading to OTC and ceasd trading in June 2007.
