FRAMINGHAM, Mass., and PHILADELPHIA, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Transport Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in drug/medical devices for the topical treatment of dermatological conditions, today announced that the company closed on a $12.6 million extension of its Series D financing round, bringing the total of the round to $29.6 million. This funding comes from existing investors, and was co-led by The Carlyle Group and Quaker BioVentures, with participation by The Hillman Company.
Dennis Goldberg, Ph.D., President and Chief Operating Officer, commented on the financing, “The continued support from our investors provides further validation of Transport’s technology, broad experience in drug development, management team, product focus and business strategy. The additional funds will support our lead drug/device combination product for herpes labialis, or cold sores. We will initiate a Phase II human clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of our new drug delivery device and proprietary acyclovir formulation. It will also help to advance the preclinical development of the Company’s onychomycosis and other product candidates.”
Richard Kollender, Partner of Quaker BioVentures added, “We continue to be attracted to Transport and its core competencies in electrical engineering, chemistry/drug formulation, materials science and drug development, a new model known as drug/device convergence. Further, Transport’s lead product focus in herpes labialis represents a unique market opportunity. This is due, in part, to the ineffectiveness of currently available treatments and the unique drug/device system developed by Transport, whereby acyclovir is delivered over a ten minute treatment time directly to impacted skin at considerably higher concentrations than existing approved topical formulations.”
About Transport’s Iontophoresis Delivery Platform
Transport’s drug/delivery platform is based on the combination of iontophoresis, a technology employing a low-voltage electrical charge to locally deliver larger amounts of medications through the skin, and proprietary drug formulations optimized for electrokinetic delivery. The Company has developed a small, wireless microprocessor-controlled drug delivery device and pre-filled drug reservoir cartridges that will allow patients to self-administer topical drugs for a variety of indications. The system consists of a reusable control unit and disposable, single-use medicated cartridges. The pre-filled cartridges contain a unit dose of drug.
About Transport’s Herpes Labialis Drug/Device
To date, Transport has clinically validated its iontophoresis technology in several US clinical trials in more than 750 patients using the company’s first generation device and an approved topical acyclovir formulation including an initial Phase IIb double-blind, placebo-controlled study in which 43 percent of treated erythema patients reported aborted lesions versus 20 percent for placebo, a 50 hour improvement in healing time for treated patients vs. placebo and a 35 hour improvement in healing time for all patients.
About Transport Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Pennsylvania-based Transport Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately-held venture back company. To date, the Company has raised US $35.6 million in venture financing. Current venture investors include Quaker BioVentures, The Carlyle Group, The Hillman Company and EGS Healthcare. For more information, please visit http://www.transportpharma.com.
Source: Transport Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
