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Springboard Selects African Focused Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Business, LaGray Chemical Company, to Present at the Silicon Valley Women's Venture Captial Forum

Springboard Selects African Focused Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Business, LaGray Chemical Company, to Present at the Silicon Valley Women's Venture Captial Forum

Published 06-29-04

Submitted by LaGray

CHICAGO - LaGray Chemical Company announced that it has been chosen by Springboard Enterprises and the Women's Technology Cluster, to present its progress and future development plans at Springboard: Silicon Valley 2004. LaGray is building the first fully-integrated pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in sub-Saharan Africa to provide affordable medications to people in Africa. The company's primary focus will be on drugs essential for the treatment of HIV-AIDS, TB and malaria, which have reached epidemic levels on the continent.

LaGray is one of 24 companies that were chosen from a pool of hundreds for this year's forum, which showcased talented female entrepreneurs to an audience of leading corporate, angel, and venture investors on Thursday June 24, at Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, Calif.

"LaGray's vision is to provide people on the African continent with quality, life saving medicines that are desperately needed at affordable costs," said Dr. Alexandra Graham, chief operating officer and co-founder of LaGray. "This year's Springboard forum will be a great opportunity to present this profitable, sustainable, and socially responsible venture to a focused investor community."

LaGray is the first company of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. Starting from raw commodity chemicals, the company will manufacture critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and convert them into finished dosage forms such as capsules, topicals and injectables in accordance with U.S.-Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. LaGray is being established initially in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) but envisions a Pan-African expansion. It will be a resource at the center of the HIV-AIDS pandemic to global non-governmental organizations seeking quality drugs at low cost.

The company is focused on branded generic and licensed pharmaceuticals. "Statistics show that most of the diseases that cause significant mortality in Africa are treatable or manageable with existing drugs. What stands in the way of treatment, and hence survival, is access to affordable drugs. We can help address this need while we seek new remedies," said Dr. Graham. "Drug donations by major pharmaceutical companies are laudable gestures but are simply not a sustainable solution."

LaGray's practical approach to the problem is to build capacity for independent health-care by developing technologies for local drug manufacture in Africa. Using lower cost resources, the company can substantially reduce the cost of goods sold and sell the drugs at significantly lower prices than imported drugs.

Since its inception, LaGray has raised more than $2 million, all of which has been invested in equipment and manufacturing and laboratory facilities in Ghana, West Africa. The company expects to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2004.

Springboard Venture Forums provide women-led, high growth businesses with access to investment capital. Springboard: Silicon Valley 2004 will showcase emerging businesses and social ventures in the software, internet, telecommunication, and life sciences industries. LaGray will be the only company to present a pharmaceutical business plan in the social venture category.

"We founded LaGray because we are in a position to make a difference and are prepared to make the necessary personal sacrifices" said Dr. Graham. "The immense social impact of this project is perhaps the most compelling reason to support LaGray because it is the motivating force that keeps us going against all odds. We will produce and market affordable, quality drugs focused on critical endemic diseases and introduce new technology that will contribute to self-sufficiency in healthcare in the region. We will also create jobs, including opportunities for highly educated persons. This is truly a double-bottom-line venture."

About LaGray Chemical Company
LaGray Chemical Company will operate the first fully-integrated pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in West Africa, producing both the active pharmaceutical ingredients as well as the finished dosage forms. Founded in Ghana in 2000 and incorporated in the U.S. in 2002, the company will manufacture pharmaceuticals for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases such as HIV-AIDS and opportunistic infections, malaria, tuberculosis, parasitic, bacterial and fungal infections, as well as hypertension. The company was founded by pharmaceutical industry veterans of West African origin who have a combined 40 years of experience in U.S. pharmaceutical research and manufacturing as well as a deep understanding of the African pharmaceutical market and economic environment. For more information on LaGray Chemical Company, visit http://www.lagraychem.com.

About Springboard Enterprises
Springboard Enterprises is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to accelerating women's access to the equity markets. The organization produces programs that educate, showcase and support entrepreneurs as they seek equity capital and grow their companies. For more information about Springboard, please visit www.springboardenterprises.org.

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LaGray

LaGray

Our vision is to provide the African continent with quality life saving medicines that are desperately needed at affordable prices by producing them locally and sustain ably. Our seamlessly integrated manufacturing; Starting from raw chemicals through active pharmaceutical ingredients to finished dosage forms, is the first of its kind in West Africa. Our facility is the first in sub-Saharan Africa to be purposely designed for vertically integrated pharmaceutical manufacturing. Our integrated approach enables timely access to critical medicines. Utilization of local labor and resources makes our drugs affordable and maintains our focus on local solutions to healthcare problems. We are tackling the major causes of mortality and morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa by manufacturing branded generic drugs against chloroquine-resistant malaria, respiratory tract infections, HIV-AIDS, cardiovascular disease and tuberculosis.

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