Altus Raises $51 Million in Series C Financing; Adds New Board Members.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2004 Altus(R) Pharmaceuticals Inc., formerly Altus Biologics Inc., a company developing novel therapies to treat chronic gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases metabolic disease, n a disorder that causes dysfunction of the metabolic action of the body, resulting in loss of control of homeostasis. paraneoplastic syndrome , today announced that it has secured $51 million in a Series C financing led by Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus is a private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. It has been a leading private equity investor since 1971. The firm currently has approximately $14 billion under management, and invests in a range of industries including information and , a leading healthcare private equity investor. In conjunction with the financing, Stewart Hen and Jonathan Leff, both Managing Directors at Warburg Pincus, have joined Altus' Board of Directors. Altus expects to use the proceeds from the financing to advance its lead product for pancreatic insufficiency pancreatic insufficiency A relative or absolute lack of pancreatic enzymes, a finding typical of cystic fibrosis. See Cystic fibrosis. through Phase II clinical trials Noun 1. phase II clinical trial - a clinical trial on more persons than in phase I; intended to evaluate the efficacy of a treatment for the condition it is intended to treat; possible side effects are monitored phase II and to advance and expand its robust pipeline of products to treat patients with chronic gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases. Altus also plans to advance other programs currently in its portfolio into human clinical trials in the near term. "We are pleased to have earned this level of investor confidence and believe it gives us great leverage for the development of our lead product and also enables us to continue to advance our pipeline of products," said Peter Lanciano, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Altus. "We are also excited to add Warburg Pincus and their leadership team to our Board of Directors and shareholder base." "Altus has created an impressive pipeline of products by leveraging its protein crystallization Crystallization The formation of a solid from a solution, melt, vapor, or a different solid phase. Crystallization from solution is an important industrial operation because of the large number of materials marketed as crystalline particles. technology," said Stewart Hen. "The power of this platform is illustrated by Altus' lead product for pancreatic insufficiency which has the potential to provide significant benefits compared to existing treatments. We are excited by the tremendous medical applications of this technology and look forward to working together with management and the existing investors to make the company a success." Other investors in the financing included previous Altus shareholders: U.S. Venture Partners, Nomura Phase4 Ventures, BankInvest, CMEA CMEA Council for Mutual Economic Assistance CMEA Cellular Message Encryption Algorithm CMEA Canadian Music Educators' Association CMEA Council for Mutual Economic Aid CMEA Certified Machinery Equipment Appraiser CMEA Colorado Music Education Association Ventures and Clariden Bank. About Warburg Pincus LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control Warburg Pincus is a global private equity firm and a leading investor in healthcare, biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals. The firm currently has approximately $14 billion under management, including $4 billion available for investment in a range of industries. Warburg Pincus has invested more than $800 million in the life sciences industry and helped to build more than 40 biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies spanning a broad range of technologies and stages of development. For more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com. About Altus Pharmaceuticals Altus Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing and commercializing novel protein therapeutics for patients with chronic gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases. Altus' in-depth knowledge of protein crystallization has resulted in a proprietary pipeline of orally-delivered and injectable in·ject·a·ble adj. Capable of being injected. Used of a drug. n. A drug or medicine that can be injected. protein replacement products. As a company, we are committed to improving the quality of life of patients. More information about Altus and its clinical development programs can be found at www.altus.com |
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