SAN DIEGO, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Mpex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has completed a $27.5 million initial closing of a Series D financing led by Investor Growth Capital. Other participating investors include RiverVest Venture Partners, as well as existing investors SV Life Sciences, HBM BioVentures, Aberdare Ventures and Adams Street Partners. These investors have made commitments to additional closings that could bring the total Series D financing to $40.0 million.
Mpex’s lead product candidate, MP-376, is a proprietary aerosol formulation of the antibiotic levofloxacin which is being developed as a maintenance therapy for the prevention of bacterial exacerbations in patients with chronic respiratory infections. MP-376 is currently being evaluated in ongoing Phase 2 clinical trials in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
“This new investment will enable us to complete the ongoing Phase 2 trials of MP-376 in both CF and COPD, as well as prepare for Phase 3 trials in these indications,” said Daniel Burgess, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mpex. “We now have a very strong investor syndicate to help us advance these programs rapidly towards commercialization. We believe that this financing positions us well financially to achieve all of our development objectives for MP-376.”
“MP-376 is a novel formulation of a proven antibiotic specifically designed for aerosol administration with a well-validated delivery system,” said Sam Nickerson of Investor Growth Capital. “We are encouraged by the clinical data in CF patients to date and believe that if MP-376 is successful in reducing exacerbations in COPD patients, it will represent an important new therapy for this indication as well.” In connection with the financing, Mr. Nickerson will join Mpex’s board of directors.
CF is a hereditary disease affecting approximately 30,000 Americans. Patients with CF suffer from chronic infections of the lower respiratory tract that can be caused by multiple bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Chronic pulmonary infections and related exacerbations are associated with a decrease in lung function over time and are implicated as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in CF patients. Currently, there is only one inhaled antibiotic cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of chronic infections in CF and physicians have expressed a strong desire for additional inhaled antibiotic treatment options.
There are more than 9 million patients with COPD in the U.S. Approximately 10% of these patients are characterized as having severe disease which typically results in multiple acute exacerbations per year. These respiratory exacerbations are a major cause of disability, morbidity, mortality and healthcare expenditures. There is no cure for COPD and as such, current treatment is aimed at managing symptoms and preventing exacerbations. There are currently no inhaled antibiotics approved by the FDA for the prevention of exacerbations in COPD patients.
Wedbush Pacific Growth Life Sciences served as placement agent to the company in this transaction.
About Mpex Pharmaceuticals
Mpex Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to develop important new therapies to combat the growing issue of antibiotic resistance. The company’s internal development pipeline focuses on combining proprietary formulations, PK/PD strategies and novel potentiating agents with proven antibiotics to overcome or directly inhibit the molecular mechanisms in bacteria responsible for antibiotic resistance. Mpex’s most advanced product candidate, MP-376, is a proprietary aerosol formulation of levofloxacin that is being developed clinically as a maintenance therapy for the prevention of bacterial exacerbations in patients with cystic fibrosis and COPD. The company has also built a discovery and development platform and intellectual property estate around inhibitors of multi-drug resistant (MDR) efflux pumps (EPIs) found in many gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Bacterial efflux of antibiotics is a leading source of multi-drug resistance, particularly in gram-negative organisms. Mpex compounds have been shown in both in vitro and in vivo studies to overcome efflux-based resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics. In 2008 Mpex entered into a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline focused on developing multiple drug candidates utilizing Mpex’s EPI technology. Company website: www.mpexpharma.com.
About Investor Growth Capital
Investor Growth Capital (IGC) is the wholly-owned venture capital arm of Investor AB, a publicly traded industrial holding company, listed on the Stockholm Exchange. IGC was formed in the mid-1990s to invest in high quality, growth oriented companies, primarily in the Healthcare and IT industries. Today its 30 investment professionals are developing a portfolio whose value exceeds $850 million from offices located in New York, Menlo Park, Stockholm, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Beijing. For almost a century Investor AB’s business philosophy has been to build best-in-class companies in sectors where the group has strong knowledge and a networking advantage. IGC shares that approach and benefits from Investor AB’s extensive global network of companies and senior managers. For more information, visit www.investorgrowthcapital.com.
About RiverVest Venture Partners
RiverVest Venture Partners is a venture capital firm focused on identifying and shaping early-stage life science companies to create significant shareholder value. With hands-on, high-level expertise and financial resources, RiverVest supports entrepreneurs by helping them achieve near-term objectives that position their companies for subsequent financing or exit. For more information, visit http://www.rivervest.com.
