CRANBURY, N.J., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Amicus Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule, orally-administered pharmacological chaperones for the treatment of a range of human genetic diseases, today announced the closing of a $60 million Series D financing, the Company’s largest to date, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). In August, due to market conditions, the Company withdrew its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to a proposed initial public offering.
In this financing round, NEA was joined by current investors Canaan Partners, CHL Medical Partners, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Palo Alto Investors, Prospect Venture Partners, Quaker BioVentures, and Radius Ventures. In addition, affiliated investment funds of Och-Ziff Capital Management Group participated in this round of financing as a new investor.
Amicus also announced today two key executive management appointments. First, Donald J. Hayden, Jr., Executive Chairman, will serve as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer while John F. Crowley, President and CEO, serves a six-month active duty military obligation with the United States Navy. He is a commissioned officer in the Navy Reserve. Mr. Crowley will return as the CEO on or about March 1st, 2007. Second, Matthew R. Patterson has been promoted from Chief Business Officer to Chief Operating Officer.
“I am delighted that Amicus has been able to secure our largest financing round to date. Our core investors clearly believe in the Company’s pharmacological chaperone technology. We are also extremely pleased to have Och-Ziff Capital Management Group on board as our newest investor. This additional funding will enable us to continue to advance our pipeline of potential new treatments for the lysosomal storage disorders Fabry, Gaucher, and Pompe and to aggressively develop our earlier stage programs for other genetic diseases. Additionally, I am honored to be asked to serve my country during this active duty obligation, and I have the utmost confidence that Don Hayden and the extraordinary senior management team at Amicus will continue to move the company forward while I am away,” said John F. Crowley.
“We are extremely pleased to make this additional investment that will further enable Amicus’ dynamic growth and lay the foundation for a significant and enduring enterprise. The speed and high quality of execution are a testament to the outstanding efforts of this well led and capable team. We wish John Crowley the best of luck during his six-month military service and look forward to his return next spring,” said Michael G. Raab, Partner at NEA and member of Amicus’ Board of Directors.
About Donald J. Hayden, Jr.
Mr. Hayden brings to Amicus the experiences, insights, and perspective gained during a highly successful 25-year career in pharmaceuticals and related health care businesses with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, including 15 years in senior executive positions. Mr. Hayden has a proven track record of innovative strategy development, growing successful products and businesses, and building exceptional leadership teams.
During his career at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Mr. Hayden held key positions such as: president of Oncology and Immunology; senior vice president for Worldwide Franchise Management and Business Development; president of Intercontinental and senior vice president, Business Development, Pharmaceuticals; president of Worldwide Medicines; executive vice president of Strategy; and executive vice president of the Health Care Group. For the past four years, Mr. Hayden served as executive vice president and president, Americas, overseeing two major pharmaceutical units and two healthcare businesses with combined annual sales in excess of $10 billion, as well as global pharmaceutical manufacturing. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and has an M.B.A. from Indiana University.
Mr. Hayden joined Amicus as Executive Chairman in March of this year. Over the past six months he has played an important role in guiding the work of the Board of Directors while working closely with senior management on business strategy and leadership development.
About Matthew R. Patterson
Mr. Patterson joined Amicus in December 2004 and served as Chief Business Officer prior to being promoted to Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Patterson previously served as vice president of Regulatory Affairs, and later vice president of Commercial Planning, at BioMarin Pharmaceutical. Mr. Patterson oversaw the development of Aldurazyme® (laronidase) for the treatment of the genetic disease MPS I and helped build the sales and marketing function for the company. Prior to BioMarin, Mr. Patterson worked at Genzyme Corporation in Manufacturing and Regulatory Affairs. While at Genzyme, he contributed to the development and global licensing of multiple products. Mr. Patterson received his B.A. in Biochemistry from Bowdoin College.
About Amicus Therapeutics
Amicus Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel, oral therapeutics known as pharmacological chaperones for the treatment of a range of human genetic diseases. Pharmacological chaperone technology involves the use of small molecules to restore or improve biological activity in cells by selectively binding to a misfolded protein caused by a genetic mutation. Amicus is initially targeting lysosomal storage disorders, which are severe, chronic genetic diseases with unmet medical needs. Amicus’ lead compound Amigal(TM) is in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of Fabry disease. The company has filed an IND for AT2101 for the treatment of Gaucher disease and has initiated Phase I clinical trials. The company plans to file an IND for AT2220 for the treatment of Pompe disease in the second half of 2006.
Source: Amicus Therapeutics
