RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- NovaQuest has made a strategic investment in TOPIGEN Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in respiratory disorders. The investment was part of a private placement of C$26 million (US$25 million) in the Montreal-based company.
Last week’s The investment by NovaQuest, the strategic partnering group of Quintiles Transnational, helps TOPIGEN accelerate its Phase II lead-product clinical programs. NovaQuest and Quintiles first provided strategic product development advice to TOPIGEN three years ago; the relationship has since evolved into an integrated development partnership.
Patricia Lamothe, TOPIGEN’s Chief Financial Officer, said: “The ability to access NovaQuest’s clinical expertise and Quintiles’ development capabilities is a tremendous benefit to our company as we continue to advance our product candidates for significant breakthroughs in the treatment of respiratory diseases.”
NovaQuest Vice President Ben Cons, Ph.D., said: “Having been very active in 2006, with 16 strategic investments, our focus now is to create fewer but larger partnerships. We’re seeking high potential biotechs -- those with excellent pipelines and strong management teams. Our managed partnership with TOPIGEN is an example of this.
“We believe that NovaQuest’s strong clinical experience and intellectual capital, backed by Quintiles’ global development resources, is a great fit to help TOPIGEN advance its clinical candidates efficiently and strategically.”
In November NovaQuest made a strategic investment in Canadian biotech company BioMS Medical Corp. , a leading developer in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. For all of 2006, NovaQuest participated as a minority investor in funding rounds that raised a total of $342 million for 16 emerging biotechnology companies worldwide.
NovaQuest, the strategic partnering group of Quintiles Transnational, is an industry pioneer in offering tailored financial and operational solutions that help pharmaceutical and biotech companies overcome development and commercialization challenges, including leveraging “virtual clinical development” models. Its unique managed-partnership approach ensures sponsorship by senior-level executives; access to global development and commercial resources and expertise; and efficient operational delivery of services. Since 2000, NovaQuest partnerships have committed more than $2 billion in capital to pharmaceutical and biotech companies of all sizes. For more information, please visit http://www.novaquest.com.
Quintiles Transnational Corp. is powering the next generation of healthcare by providing a broad range of professional services in drug development, financial partnering and commercialization for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare industries. With 19,000 employees and offices in more than 50 countries, it is focused on providing customer- centric solutions that are the gold standard of the industry. For more information, please visit the company’s Web site at http://www.qtrn.com.
NovaQuest
CONTACT: Jay Johnson, Media Relations, media.info@quintiles.com, or GregConnors, Investor Relations, invest@quintiles.com, +1-919-998-2000, both ofQuintiles Transnational Corp.
