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Morphochem AG Announces
First Closing of its 15 Million Euros ($18.5 Million) Financing Round Commenting
on the financing, Dr Lutz Weber, Chief Scientific Officer said: “The
investment in the Company by our existing investors demonstrates the commitment
and belief that they have in Morphochem’s product pipeline and technology
assets. With a significant number of new investors in late stage due diligence,
we are confident that we will reach our €15 million financing goal within the
coming months.” The
new funds will allow Morphochem to advance its two most advanced products into
clinical trials and obtain first human data in 2005. The Company expects to
announce the appointment of its new Chief Executive shortly. Morphochem’s
two lead products - MCM17, an orally available, best in class Factor Xa
inhibitor and Oxaquin®, a dual action antibiotic targeting hospital
acquired infections, resistant to current antibiotics, are targeted to start and
complete first Phase I trials in 2005. The Company’s strategy will be to seek
co-development or option partners for further clinical development. In addition,
the Company will seek to partner other earlier stage products in its portfolio
for pre-clinical and clinical development, including programs in oncology, anti-infectives
and diabetes. These products have been discovered using its proprietary
MOREsystem® drug discovery engine. Morphochem
is a world leader in multi component reaction (MCR) chemistry, which forms the
basis of its chemical genomics drug discovery engine. The MOREsystem®
integrates proprietary MCR chemistry with Morphochem’s MolMind®
chemo-informatics system and biological screening to rapidly deliver novel drug
candidates. The power of this technology is demonstrated by the quality of the
Company’s in-house pipeline as well as through its’ pharmaceutical and
biotech partnerships, including small molecule discovery deals with Novartis,
Boehringer Ingelheim and others. Dr.
Helmut Schühsler, Managing Partner of lead investor TVM commented: “We
believe that Morphochem has built an outstanding chemistry platform and has
several novel small molecules in pre-clinical development as well as late stage
research. These products could potentially be very big drugs. However, at this
time, the financial market does not ascribe the true value to such early stage
products and thus I am delighted that the Company has attracted additional
finance from its very strong existing investor base who are willing to support
these opportunities.” -ends- Morphochem
AG
was founded in 1998 and currently employs 45 staff in Munich, Germany and Basel,
Switzerland. It has developed a unique and highly integrated chemical genomics
drug discovery platform that it is applying to the development of a pipeline of
drugs for unmet medical needs in major areas of indications such as thrombosis
and infectious diseases as well as partnering its technology with others. Prior to this new investment round, Morphochem has raised €78 million from a world class syndicate of investors including Techno Venture Management (TVM), Alta Berkeley, Alta California, Life Science Partners, Merlin Biosciences, Nomura International, West LB Panmure, 3i Bioscience Investment Trust, 3i Group, Domain Associates, Mayfield Fund, Viscardi, IKB Venture Capital, Sud VC, KB Lux, Bank Julius Bar, Bionex Investments, and others including federal and state government sources. For further information please visit: www.morphochem.com
Northbank
Communications Eileen
Paul, Account Manager Tel:
+44 (0)1260 296516 e.paul@northbankcommunications.com
At
Morphochem: Dr
Lutz Weber, CSO Tel:
+49 (0)89 780050
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