Nereus Pharmaceuticals Closes First Tranche of $42.6 Million Financing; Company Appoints Three New Directors.SAN DIEGO -- Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pioneer in drug discovery and development from marine microbial microbial pertaining to or emanating from a microbe. microbial digestion the breakdown of organic material, especially feedstuffs, by microbial organisms. sources, today announced a $42.6 million private placement of its Series D preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. to be received in two tranches. The first tranche that has closed amounted to $24.3 million and the second tranche will be $18.3 million upon the completion of certain ongoing development milestones. New investors HBM HBM Human Body Model HBM Human Brain Mapping HBM Hottinger Baldwin Messtechnik GmbH (German company) HBM High Bone Mass HBM Hybrid Bilayer Membrane HBM Humming Bird Medal HBM Her/His Britannic Majesty BioVentures (Cayman) Ltd. and HBM BioCapital LP led the round. Other new investors include Advent International, InterWest Partners, Genavent Partners (Sanofi-Aventis) and Red Abbey Venture Partners. Investors returning for this fourth financing round include Alta Partners, Forward Ventures, GIMV, Novartis Bioventure Fund, Pacific Venture Group, FirstBio and Lotus BioScience Ventures. In its first three rounds of venture financing, Nereus raised a total of $38 million. In conjunction with the financing, Nereus named three new directors to its board. Incoming director Gary Shearman, Ph.D., Chairman and Managing Director of HBM Advisors USA, LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control said, "Nereus is tapping a novel source of chemical diversity, and their discovery program is completely unique within the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. The Company has in place the development capabilities to pursue the clinical arena, and I look forward to working with the outstanding management and scientific teams as they investigate their portfolio full of rich opportunities." Other new directors include Jason Fisherman, M.D., Managing Director of Advent, and Nina Kjellson, Principal at Interwest Partners. Existing board members include Frank AtLee, recently retired 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 Monsanto and former President of American Cyanamid; Jean Deleage, Senior Managing Partner of Alta Partners; Standish Fleming, Managing Member of Forward Ventures; and Martin Rosenberg, Ph.D., former SVP SVP S'il Vous Plaît (French: Please) SVP Senior Vice President SVP Schweizerische Volkspartei (Swiss People~s Party) SVP Society of Vertebrate Paleontology SVP Social Venture Partners SVP St Vincent de Paul for Anti-Infectives and Host Defense R&D and Head of Biopharmaceutical R&D at SmithKline Beecham and SVP Anti-Infectives Center of Excellence in Drug Discovery for GlaxoSmithKline. The proceeds from the financing will be used to conduct human clinical trials for Nereus' first two compounds and advance its portfolio of lead compounds. The Company's first drug candidate, NPI-2358, is a potent and selective tumor vascular disrupting agent (VDA VDA Vendor Driven Architecture VDA Verband Der Automobilindustrie E.V. (German Automobile Industry Association) VDA Virginia Department for the Aging VDA Ovda, Israel (Airport Code) VDA Visual Data Analysis ) for the treatment of solid tumors. The parent molecule of the compound was isolated from a marine fungus that provided the novel chemistry. Derived from a marine-obligate actinomycete actinomycete Any of a group of generally low-oxygen–utilizing bacteria identified by a branching growth pattern that results in large threadlike structures. The filaments may break apart to form rods or spheroidal shapes. Some actinomycetes can form spores. , Nereus' second compound, NPI-0052, is a highly potent second-generation proteasome inhibitor for the treatment of multiple myeloma multiple myeloma A malignant proliferation of abnormal plasma cells that populate the marrow-containing bones of the body. The affected plasma cells produce myeloma protein, a monoclonal antibody that replaces normal antibodies in the blood, thereby increasing susceptibility and potentially solid tumors. Nereus expects to file Investigational New Drug applications with the Food and Drug Administration for both compounds in 2005. Nereus' portfolio of additional compounds includes leads for oncology and infectious and inflammatory diseases. "Nereus' productive microbial discovery program generated our differentiated product candidates that demonstrate efficacy and preliminary safety in preclinical studies preclinical studies, n.pl a term used to describe research done before a clinical study. May be laboratory or epidemiologic research. . The backing of this group of highly respected investors will help advance our two lead candidates into human clinical trials within the next year," said Kobi M. Sethna, President and CEO of Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "We're delighted to expand our team -- of board directors as well as new employees -- in order to drive our innovations further along the drug development path." Nereus' proprietary marine microbial drug discovery program has been industrialized in·dus·tri·al·ize v. in·dus·tri·al·ized, in·dus·tri·al·iz·ing, in·dus·tri·al·iz·es v.tr. 1. To develop industry in (a country or society, for example). 2. to pharmaceutical standards to provide a continuous flow of new, high value medicinal entities. Expertise in marine microbiology is the foundation of the Company's discovery program that surpasses the lead-generation capabilities of conventional microbial production technology employed by the pharmaceutical industry. About Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Nereus Pharmaceuticals is an innovative drug discovery and development company pursuing untapped sources of chemical diversity. With unmatched expertise in marine microbiology and integrated technologies to identify novel biologically active compounds, the Company plans to enter clinical trials in 2005 with two targeted oncology candidates. Nereus' discovery portfolio also includes potential treatments for infectious diseases and inflammation. The Company is privately held and based in San Diego, California “San Diego” redirects here. For other uses, see San Diego (disambiguation). San Diego is a coastal Southern California city located in the southwestern corner of the continental United States. As of 2006, the city has a population of 1,256,951. . For more information, visit www.nereuspharm.com. Nereus Pharmaceuticals is a registered trademark of Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
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