Media Contact:
Pam Lord
Porter Novelli Life Sciences
619-849-6003
plord@pnlifesciences.com
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NEREUS
PHARMACEUTICALS CLOSES SECOND TRANCHE OF $42.6 MILLION FINANCING
SAN DIEGO, CA - March 7, 2006
- Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a
pioneer in drug discovery and development from marine microbial
sources, today announced it received $18.3 million in the second
tranche of a private placement of its Series D preferred stock. The
first tranche that closed in December 2004 amounted to $24.3
million. The recent financing was triggered by Nereus' successful
completion of certain milestones in its drug development programs,
including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's clearance of
Nereus' two Investigational New Drug (IND) applications for its
oncology drug candidates, NPI-2358 and NPI-0052.
The lead investors were HBM BioVentures Ltd. and HBM BioCapital LP.
Other continuing Series D investors included Alta Partners, Forward
Ventures, Pacific Venture Group, Novartis Bioventure Fund, Genavent
Partners (sanofi-aventis), Lotus BioScience Ventures, FirstBio,
InterWest Partners, Red Abbey Venture Partners, Advent
International, and GIMV. Since Nereus' first round of financing in
2000, the Company has raised a total of $80.6 million.
- We are very pleased with the significant progress Nereus has made
over the past year and are enthusiastic about the clinical potential
of the Company's two oncology programs, said Dr. Gary T. Shearman,
Nereus Chairman and lead investor.
The proceeds from the financing will be used to initiate Phase I
human clinical trials for Nereus' first two drug candidates and
advance its portfolio of preclinical compounds. The first compound,
NPI-2358, is a potent and selective tumor vascular disrupting agent
(VDA) for the treatment of solid tumors. This class of compounds
represents a novel approach to disrupting the intrinsic tumor blood
flow, which leads to tumor cell death. Utilizing another approach,
the therapeutic application of decreasing tumor blood flow has been
successfully demonstrated by angiogenesis inhibitors such as
Genentech's Avastin®. The parent molecule of NPI-2358 was isolated
from a marine fungus that provided the novel chemistry.
Derived from a marine-obligate actinomycete, Nereus' second
compound, NPI-0052, is a highly potent proteasome inhibitor that
will be tested for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma,
solid tumors and lymphomas. NPI-0052's selectivity and potency
demonstrated in animal studies indicate that this next-generation
compound could significantly enhance the market for proteasome
inhibitors, which has been previously established by Millennium's
Velcade®.
- With this additional backing from our investors, Nereus will soon
begin the two clinical programs designed to evaluate the initial
dosing, safety, pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profiles of our
lead oncology compounds, said Kobi M. Sethna, President and CEO of
Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. As we move forward with our human
trials, we'll simultaneously dedicate our talent and resources to
identifying additional novel compounds that may follow the same path
towards becoming pharmaceuticals. A very exciting project advancing
in preclinical development involves highly selective NFkB modulators
for cancer, inflammatory diseases, and potentially other
indications.
About Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Nereus Pharmaceuticals pursues untapped sources of chemical
diversity to discover and develop novel therapeutics. With unmatched
expertise in marine microbiology and integrated technologies to
identify novel biologically active compounds, the Company will begin
clinical trials in 2006 with two targeted oncology candidates.
Nereus discovery portfolio also includes potential treatments for
infectious diseases and inflammation. The Company is privately held
and based in San Diego, California. For more information, visit
www.nereuspharm.com.
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Nereus Pharmaceuticals is a registered trademark of Nereus
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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