Singapore, 13th July 2010 - MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd (MerLion), a biotechnology company focussed on the discovery and development of novel antiinfectives and with a leading position in offering natural product research services, today announced the completion of a US$7 million Series C round of financing.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to continue clinical development of the company’s most advanced drug candidate, finafloxacin, a broad spectrum antibiotic with a novel pH activation profile, proven safety and that has shown good efficacy in early-stage clinical trials.
Existing investors Aravis Ventures, Aurelia Private Equity, Bio*One Capital, HeidelbergCapital and Venture Incubator participated in the round.
Mr. Jean-Philippe Tripet, Managing Partner of Aravis and MerLion’s Chairman, stated: “With this round, existing investors have reiterated their confidence in MerLion management’s ability to deliver on both the natural compound platform and finafloxacin as an innovative antibiotic for use in hospital and other settings. With the financing of further clinical trials we believe that the company will be in a position to offer a very attractive package to partners.”
About MerLion Pharmaceuticals
MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd is a privately held company headquartered in Singapore with clinical development operations based in Berlin, Germany. The company is organised into two key business units; MerLion Research and MerLion Development.
About finafloxacin
Finafloxacin is a novel, highly differentiated fluoroquinolone antibiotic with a unique pH activation profile. The antibacterial activity of finafloxacin increases significantly at pH values below neutral i.e. under infection relevant conditions. The compound exhibits an all inclusive spectrum of activity that covers Gram positive, Gram negative, anaerobic and atypical pathogens. Finafloxacin, which has already shown potential for the treatment of a range of infections in Phase IIa clinical studies, is being evaluated in critical care and hospital based
infection settings.
