Protez Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Caps Series B Round At $21 Million; Files Phase 1 Clinical Trial Application
"This additional funding from Easton and current investors will enable Protez to rapidly advance PZ-601, accelerate our research programs and increase our efforts to help the thousands of patients who face potentially life-threatening infections each year," said Christopher Cashman, Protez President and CEO. "Our pre-clinical data suggest that the Protez injectable antibiotic, PZ-601, has the potential to be a key therapeutic option in combating the growing problem of hospital-acquired infections that do not respond to available treatments."
"We are pleased to invest in this proven management team and in a therapeutic agent that focuses on such a critically important yet unmet market need," said Seth Orlow, MD, Ph.D., who will represent Easton on the Protez Board of Directors. "We are also pleased to join a strong financing syndicate that includes BioAdvance Ventures, Birchmere Ventures, L Capital Partners, S.R.One and BTG."
About Easton Capital Investment Group
Easton Capital Investment Group currently manages two funds, Easton Hunt Capital Partners, L.P. and Easton Hunt New York LP, on behalf of a number of significant institutional investors. These funds invest in companies with experienced management teams and strongly differentiated products in the therapeutic, medical device, diagnostic, and tools arenas. Easton has offices in New York City, Buffalo and Miami, as well as an affiliate in Dallas.
About Antibiotic Resistant Infections
Antibiotic resistance has been called one of the world's most pressing public health problems. The number of bacteria resistant to antibiotics has increased significantly in the last decade. Antibiotics, also known as antimicrobials, are drugs that fight infections caused by bacteria. After their discovery in the 1940's, they transformed medical care and dramatically reduced illness and death from infectious diseases. However, over the decades, the bacteria that antibiotics control have developed resistance to these drugs. Today, many important bacterial infections in the United States and throughout the world are becoming resistant to existing antibiotics. For this reason, antibiotic resistance is among the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's top concerns.
About Protez
Headquartered in Malvern, PA, Protez Pharmaceuticals discovers and develops new antibiotics for difficult-to-treat infections. Its focus is on highly differentiated intravenous and oral small molecule antibiotics to address increasing bacterial resistance and chronic or recurrent infections. Protez intends to acquire, develop and commercialize additional antibiotic product opportunities to which it can add significant value by leveraging its core technologies and drug development expertise.
Contact: Protez Pharmaceuticals Christopher Cashman, 610-695-0200 x101 cashman@protez.com
Source: Protez Pharmaceuticals