Artisan Pharma, Inc. Raises
$39 Million in a Series A
Financing Led by NGN Capital LLC
-Artisan Pharma Formed as Result of Partnership
Between
NGN Capital and Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation-
Framingham, Mass, September 6, 2006 - Artisan
Pharma, Inc. (“Artisan”) today announced a Series
A financing of $39 million led by NGN Capital LLC in a syndicate
with JAFCO, New Leaf Venture Partners, Bio*One Capital and NovaQuest
(Quintiles). Artisan’s mission is to in-license clinical-stage
products for development and commercialization in critical care
and hospital-based markets.
As part of the financing, Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation (“AKP”)
haslicensed a late-stage clinical development biologic, ART-123,
to Artisan. The license includes development and commercialization
rights to all pharmaceutical applications worldwide except for
Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea, where AKP retains all rights.
Apeiron Partners LLC advised AKP on the structuring and financing
of Artisan. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
Jeffrey D. Wager, M.D., will serve as President and Chief Executive
Officer of Artisan, leading a seasoned management team of U.S.
and Japanese professionals with deep experience in the clinical
development of protein drugs. This team will be complemented by
an advisory board of key opinion leaders in the field. The new
company will be initially based in Framingham, MA.
“The formation of Artisan combines a clinically advanced
biologic product from Japan with a highly strategic and experienced
group of investors from the U.S. and Asia. This syndicate will
enable Artisan to strategically develop ART-123, acquire additional
marketed or latestage products and to leverage unique, regional
resources with a global relationship network,” stated Dr.
Wager.
ART-123 is a novel, recombinant, soluble, human thrombomodulin
being developed for the treatment of DIC (disseminated intravascular
coagulation) in sepsis and DVT (deep vein thrombosis). ART-123
uniquely targets both coagulation and systemic inflammatory pathways
and holds great promise as a self-regulating treatment of DIC
in sepsis. Phase 3 studies have been completed for ART-123 in
Japan for DIC and AKP recently filed a Japanese NDA. Artisan plans
on initiating Phase 2b studies of ART-123 for DIC in sepsis in
the US early next year. Approximately 1.8 million patients in
the United States and Europe suffer from sepsis annually, with
approximately 30 percent of them developing DIC. For those that
do, prognosis is poor.
Georg Nebgen, Managing General Partner of NGN Capital, commented,
“Artisan is a quite rare case where a pharmaceutical company
spins out a very late stage biologic product with blockbuster
potential and teams with venture capital investors to form a company
around it.” John Costantino, Managing General Partner of
NGN Capital, continued, “The formation of Artisan is a great
example of NGN Capital’s ability to create innovative and
strategic alternatives for the healthcare industry and identify
attractive new opportunities in drug development.”
Kei Oe, President of AKP, said, “The formation of Artisan
is an innovative approach to support the continued development
of ART-123 outside AKP’s principal markets – especially
in the US and the EU. We are looking forward to the successful
completion of a clinical program and the subsequent commercialization
of ART-123 by Artisan.”
Artisan’s board will include Drs. Wager and Nebgen, John
Costantino, Dr. Philippe Chambon of New Leaf Venture Partners,
Hironori Hozoji of JAFCO and a nominee from Bio*One Capital. The
company will add two additional, independent members to its board
of directors.
About Artisan Pharma, Inc.
Artisan Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to bringing
best-in-class critical care and hospital-based therapeutics to
patients. Artisan’s strategy is to acquire clinical stage
or marketed drugs and develop them for markets with clear unmet
medical needs.
www.artisanpharma.net
About NGN Capital
NGN Capital is a global healthcare venture capital investment
firm presently managing a $250 million Fund. NGN has investment
capabilities across a broad spectrum of healthcare segments, including
drug products, medical devices, and healthcare services, with
an emphasis on later-stage opportunities. NGN has offices in New
York, NY, Heidelberg, Germany, and Greenwich, CT. More information
on NGN can be found at
www.ngncapital.com
About JAFCO
Founded in 1973, JAFCO has managed $4.2 billion in over 60 investment
funds globally through its offices in Japan, North America, China,
South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and other parts of the world. The
charter of JAFCO is to invest in U.S. based later stage biopharmaceutical
and medical device companies and create significant values of
investee companies through partnerships with Japanese companies.
www.jafco.co.jp
About NLV Partners
NLV Partners is a life science-dedicated venture capital firm
with offices in Menlo Park and New York. Founded by the former
members of Sprout Group's Healthcare Technology venture team,
NLV Partners invests primarily in companies focused on clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical products, early-stage medical devices, and molecular
diagnostics. In addition, the NLV Partners team continues to manage
the existing $800 million healthcare technology portfolio of Sprout
Group.
www.nlvpartners.com
About Bio*One Capital
Bio*One Capital is a leading, dedicated biomedical sciences investment
management company in Asia with a worldwide presence. With funds
of over $600 million (U.S.), investments are focused on promising
and innovative global biomedical companies where Bio*One Capital
can play a value adding role in bridging and supporting companies'
growth strategies in Asia through their operations in Singapore.
A part of the Singapore Economic Development Board, Bio*One Capital
oversees a portfolio of over 60 companies in US, Europe, Singapore
and Asia.
www.bio1capital.com
About NovaQuest
NovaQuest, the strategic partnering group of Quintiles Transnational
Corp., is dedicated to generating alternative growth strategies
for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and offers them
a better business approach to derive the most value from their
product portfolios.
www.novaquest.com
About Asahi Kasei Pharma
AKP, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a research-based healthcare
innovator that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets
products for the pharmaceutical, pharmaceutical intermediate,
diagnostics, biopharmaceutical/biological filtration, medical
device, medical nutrition, and contact lens markets. AKP is a
wholly owned business unit of Asahi Kasei Corporation, a $12 billion
(U.S.) technology company that provides innovative, science-based
solutions to a diverse range of markets including chemicals and
plastics, apparel, housing and construction, healthcare, and electronics.
About Apeiron Partners
Apeiron Partners LLC is a boutique investment bank focused exclusively
on the life sciences. Apeiron Partners has designed and negotiated
a wide variety of transactions in all three major life science
markets of North America, Europe and Japan. With an extensive
relationship network, Apeiron enables its clients to pursue partnering,
M & A and investment opportunities worldwide.
www.apeironpartners.com
Contacts:
For Artisan Pharma:
Jeffrey D. Wager, M.D. +1 508-663-2150
For NGN Capital:
Georg Nebgen / John Costantino +1 212-972-0077
For Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation:
Mark Smith, Tel. +81 3-3259-5905, or
pharma-soumu@om.asahi-kasei.co.jp
Media Contact:
Douglas MacDougall, MacDougall Biomedical Communications:
+1 508-647-0209
Additional Portfolio Company Articles:
