Biodel Inc. Raises $21 Million in Series B Financing; Top-Tier Healthcare Investors Provide Funding for Phase 3 Clinical Development of Viaject(TM) Rapid Acting Insulin for Type 1 and 2 Diabetes.DANBURY, Conn. -- Biodel Inc., a developer of drug delivery technologies that increase drug efficacy, enhance drug performance, and make drugs easier for patients to take, announced a $21 million Series B financing led by Great Point Partners, OrbiMed Advisors, and Vivo Ventures. As a part of the Series B financing, Biodel also announced the addition of David Kroin, Co-founder and Managing Director at Great Point Partners, Albert Cha, MD, PhD, Managing Partner at Vivo Ventures and Samuel Wertheimer, PhD, Principal at OrbiMed Advisors, to its Board of Directors. "I am enthusiastic to be joining the Biodel team as we are highly impressed by the superior pharmacodynamics pharmacodynamics /phar·ma·co·dy·nam·ics/ (-di-nam´iks) the study of the biochemical and physiological effects of drugs and the mechanisms of their actions, including the correlation of their actions and effects with their chemical associated with Viaject (TM) rapid acting insulin and believe that the clinical trials will demonstrate that this is a major advancement in the treatment of diabetes," said Mr. Kroin, co-founder and managing director at Great Point Partners. "Biodel has shown compelling proof of concept in initial clinical trials, and we look forward to the results of the ongoing Phase 2 studies and soon to be initiated Phase 3 clinical trials." "The strong interest in this financing by top healthcare investors validates the progress we have made since our inception in 2003," said Solomon S. Steiner, Ph. D., Chairman 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 Biodel. "We are excited to continue our great progress in developing Biodel's technology which we see as a new paradigm New Paradigm In the investing world, a totally new way of doing things that has a huge effect on business. Notes: The word "paradigm" is defined as a pattern or model, and it has been used in science to refer to a theoretical framework. in the management of diabetes patients. We also welcome our newly added board members as they each bring extensive knowledge of this space and add to our highly experienced team." Biodel's first potential product is a rapid acting injectable insulin called Viaject(TM). This product is a novel formulation of recombinant human insulin Noun 1. recombinant human insulin - a form of insulin (trade name Humulin) made from recombinant DNA that is identical to human insulin; used to treat diabetics who are allergic to preparations made from beef or pork insulin Humulin designed to speed the delivery of insulin into the blood, and in a manner that closely resembles the body's normal release of insulin into the bloodstream which will improve the efficacy and efficiency of the drug. Mr. David Kroin is a co-founder and managing director at Great Point Partners. Prior to founding Great Point in 2003, Mr. Kroin was an investment professional at J.H. Whitney & Co., a multi-billion dollar alternative asset management firm, from 1998 to 2003, and ultimately was a senior member of the healthcare team and appointed Partner of a J. H. Whitney & Co. affiliated fund. While at Whitney & Co., he served on the boards of directors of U.S. Bioservices Corp. (acquired by AmeriSource), Icon International Inc. (acquired by Omnicom) and several other companies. At Great Point, he has completed structured financings for companies such as Panacos Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Genta Inc. and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals. Mr. Kroin was also an analyst in the investment banking group at Merrill Lynch & Company and an actuarial intern at Metropolitan Life. He holds a B.S. degree in actuarial mathematics from the University of Michigan (body, education) University of Michigan - A large cosmopolitan university in the Midwest USA. Over 50000 students are enrolled at the University of Michigan's three campuses. The students come from 50 states and over 100 foreign countries. . Dr. Albert Cha is an accomplished scientist with expertise in neuroscience and medical devices. He received his B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University and worked at Oracle Corporation in pharmaceutical consulting. He subsequently received an M.D. with honors (AOA AOA American Optometric Association; American Orthopsychiatric Association; American Osteopathic Association. AOA 1 American Orthopaedic Association 2 American Osteopathic Association, see there ) and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). at Los Angeles, where he won multiple awards including the Outstanding Graduate Student Award. Dr. Cha has published several research articles in the field of molecular biophysics in journals such as Nature and Neuron. He currently serves on the boards of several private biotechnology and medical device companies. He joined Vivo Ventures in 2000 and became a partner in 2003. Samuel P. Wertheimer, Ph.D., joined OrbiMed in 2000 and is a Principal in the private equity funds management group. Dr. Wertheimer's prior experience includes work in biotechnology finance, technology transfer, intellectual property and research in immunology and molecular biology. Dr. Wertheimer was a Fellow at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. The main campus is located at 1275 York Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets, with other locations in New . Dr. Wertheimer received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from New York University New York University, mainly in New York City; coeducational; chartered 1831, opened 1832 as the Univ. of the City of New York, renamed 1896. It comprises 13 schools and colleges, maintaining 4 main centers (including the Medical Center) in the city, as well as the , an M.P.H. from Yale University and a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University, mainly at Baltimore, Md. Johns Hopkins in 1867 had a group of his associates incorporated as the trustees of a university and a hospital, endowing each with $3.5 million. Daniel C. . He currently serves on the boards of several private biotechnology companies including ChemoCentryx and Corus Pharma. Leerink Swann & Co. and McGinnSmith & Co. acted placement agents in the transaction. About Biodel, Inc. Biodel Inc. is a biopharmaceutical drug delivery company. Biodel develops drug delivery technologies that increase drug efficacy, enhance drug performance, and make drugs easier for patients to take. This technology is applicable to a wide range of peptides, proteins and other macromolecules Macromolecules A large molecule composed of thousands of atoms. Mentioned in: Gene Therapy macromolecules . Using this technology, Biodel has developed a novel drug formulation of recombinant human insulin designed to speed the delivery of insulin into the blood called Viaject(TM). Biodel's current focus is gaining FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. approval for Viaject to treat patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes type 2 diabetes n. See diabetes mellitus. . For more information, please visit http://www.biodel.com. |
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