Labcyte to receive $5.5 million from Hercules Technology Growth Capital

Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTGC), the leading specialty finance company providing venture debt and equity to venture capital and private equity-backed technology and life science companies at all stages of development, today announced that it has committed to provide Labcyte, Inc. (www.labcyte.com) $5.5 million in credit facilities.

“Hercules believes the Life Science research and development market presents a huge opportunity for Labcyte. In 2008, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries spent approximately $65.2 billion on R&D activities,” said Kathy Conte, managing director of Life Sciences at Hercules. “The unique Labcyte technology, as embodied in their Echo^® liquid handlers, coupled with their solid business plan and strong management team, makes the company a welcome addition to our portfolio of companies that are positioned for success.”

“Labcyte acoustic liquid handling is the game-changing technology adopted by pharmaceutical companies around the world because it significantly improves the possibility of successful drug discovery while dramatically reducing expenses. Our approach has rapidly gained acceptance, allowing us to enjoy significant revenue growth,” said Mark D. Fischer-Colbrie, president and chief executive officer of Labcyte. “This technology is being implemented in a wide variety of applications, including those in disease screening, genomics, diagnostics, proteomics, and mass spectroscopy imaging.”