Altea Therapeutics Closes a $17 Million Equity Financing and Appoints Eric Tomlinson as its Chief Executive Officer.Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 2002 Altea Therapeutics (formerly Altea Development Corp.) announced today that it has closed its Series B equity financing Equity Financing The act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors. In return for the money paid, shareholders receive ownership interests in the corporation. of $17 million. The round was co-led by new investors Domain Associates and Venrock Associates, with vSpring Capital vSpring Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The fund currently manages approximately $200M and investing out of its second fund. also participating. The Company plans to use these funds to develop its lead products, a basal insulin patch and an opiate-based analgesic analgesic (ăn'əljē`zĭk), any of a diverse group of drugs used to relieve pain. Analgesic drugs include the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as the salicylates, narcotic drugs such as morphine, and synthetic drugs patch, through phase II clinical trials. Altea Therapeutics will also continue to assess the use of its skin microporation technology for the controlled delivery of other therapeutic agents, including proteins, small molecules, and vaccines. Concurrent with the financing, Altea Therapeutics announced today the appointment of Eric Tomlinson, DSc, PhD, as its Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Tomlinson Dr. Eric Tomlinson has broad experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug delivery and development. He established and led the worldwide Advanced Drug Delivery Research Program for Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals, and as Chief Executive Officer of GeneMedicine, Inc., he was responsible for its venture financings, initial and secondary public offerings, business partnerships and development of clinical products for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neuromuscular neuromuscular /neu·ro·mus·cu·lar/ (-mus´ku-ler) pertaining to nerves and muscles, or to the relationship between them. neu·ro·mus·cu·lar adj. 1. disorders. Dr. Tomlinson has published over two hundred scientific articles in drug delivery, gene therapy and solution thermodynamics thermodynamics, branch of science concerned with the nature of heat and its conversion to mechanical, electric, and chemical energy. Historically, it grew out of efforts to construct more efficient heat engines—devices for extracting useful work from expanding . "I am impressed by what Altea Therapeutics has achieved to date using the skin microporation technology, including the high quality of reproducible data in humans showing rapid sustained delivery of proteins," Dr. Tomlinson stated. "I am looking forward to leading the Company in its next phase of growth and in developing its extensive business opportunities." Dr. Deborah A. Eppstein, who was the Company's founding Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are very pleased to attract a leader with such a broad range of scientific and business experience as Dr. Tomlinson." Dr. Eppstein remains on the Board of Directors of Altea Therapeutics and becomes its President and Chief Business Officer, in which position she will continue to lead the Company's corporate partnering activities. "We are delighted to complete this financing with such prestigious investors," Dr. Eppstein commented. "These new funds will allow Altea Therapeutics to progress its technology and products in a timely manner." Investors "The ability to deliver large molecules without injection has been a long-sought capability. Altea Therapeutics is a particularly exciting company because its technology appears to achieve that goal," said Jesse Treu, a General Partner at Domain Associates. "We are excited to be part of this stellar investment syndicate. Having worked with Deborah Eppstein and Altea Therapeutics for many years, we believe the Company has the potential to deliver significant returns to our fund," said Dinesh Patel, PhD, Managing Director, vSpring Capital. About Altea Therapeutics Altea Therapeutics has developed a proprietary noninvasive method to achieve the delivery of therapeutic proteins, conventional drugs and vaccines through the skin. The Company believes that use of its technology can provide a painless, convenient and effective method to deliver drugs and vaccines that previously have been limited to administration by injection. The method rapidly and painlessly forms tiny openings or 'micropores' that are tens of microns in diameter, through the stratum corneum stratum cor·ne·um n. The horny outer layer of the epidermis, consisting of several layers of flat, keratinized, nonnucleated, dead or peeling cells. Also called corneal layer, horny layer. , the dead outer layer of the skin. No mechanical probes or skin puncturing devices are used. Therapeutic molecules of all sizes and physicochemical physicochemical /phys·i·co·chem·i·cal/ (fiz?i-ko-kem´ik-il) pertaining to both physics and chemistry. phys·i·co·chem·i·cal adj. 1. Relating to both physical and chemical properties. types are able to diffuse through these micropores for local action within the viable skin tissue or for systemic action after uptake by the circulatory system circulatory system, group of organs that transport blood and the substances it carries to and from all parts of the body. The circulatory system can be considered as composed of two parts: the systemic circulation, which serves the body as a whole except for the . The 'skin microporation' technology can be configured to achieve a variety of drug delivery profiles including: sustained, pulsatile pulsatile /pul·sa·tile/ (pul´sah-til) characterized by a rhythmic pulsation. pul·sa·tile adj. Undergoing pulsation. pulsatile characterized by a rhythmic pulsation. , rapid and on-demand dosing. The Company's lead products have the potential to become (i) the first non-injectable product to achieve sustained basal levels of insulin for treating individuals with Type 2 diabetes type 2 diabetes n. See diabetes mellitus. , and (ii) the first non-injectable product delivering rapid onset and sustained therapeutic levels of an opiate opiate /opi·ate/ (o´pe-it) 1. any drug derived from opium. 2. hypnotic (2). o·pi·ate n. 1. for treating severe pain. In addition, Altea Therapeutics has demonstrated the feasibility of using skin microporation to deliver other therapeutic agents, including the systemic delivery of interferon-alpha in human studies, and, in animal studies, the achievement of immune response immune response n. An integrated bodily response to an antigen, especially one mediated by lymphocytes and involving recognition of antigens by specific antibodies or previously sensitized lymphocytes. to gene-based vaccines. Altea Therapeutics intends both to engage corporate partners to co-develop and market, and in some instances co-promote, products that use its technology and also to develop and market its own proprietary products. Founded in 1998, the Company's corporate and research facilities of 25,000 square feet are located in the greater Atlanta area, with additional business offices in Europe (Stockholm) and Salt Lake City. The Company's proprietary position includes 12 issued patents (7 US), with numerous additional applications pending. The Board of Directors of Altea Therapeutics includes: Eric Tomlinson, Chief Executive Officer; Deborah A. Eppstein, President and Chief Business Officer; Ned. M. Weinshenker; Jesse I. Treu; Arthur J. Klausner; and Anthony B Anthony B is the stage name of Keith Blair (born March 31, 1976), a Jamaican musician. Biography Early life Blair grew up in rural Clarks Town in the northwestern parish of Trelawny. . Evnin. Dr. Weinshenker is Chief Executive Officer of Pharmadigm, and has worked in the pharmaceutical/drug delivery industry for the past 30 years both on the operations side (Alza, Liposome liposome (lī`pəsōm', lĭp`ə–), microscopic, fluid-filled pouch whose walls are made of layers of phospholipids identical to the phospholipids that make up cell membranes. Technology, Iomed) and on the venture capital side. Dr. Treu has been a General Partner of Domain Associates since 1985, and has been a director of over 20 early-stage healthcare companies. Mr. Klausner is a General Partner of Domain Associates and currently serves on the boards of several bio-medical companies. Dr. Evnin, a Managing General Partner at Venrock Associates, has been with Venrock since 1974 where he led the financings of several major biotechnology companies Top 100 Biotechnology Companies The following is a list of the top 100 biotechnology companies ranked by revenue. The first nine companies qualify for the list of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies. . Dr Evnin serves on the Boards of several private and publicly traded companies publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. . NOTE REGARDING PROJECTIONS AND FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Statements in this release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995, including the beliefs, expectations, hopes, or intentions of Altea Therapeutics regarding the future. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and are based on information available to Altea Therapeutics as of such date. |
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