MedPro Investors

MedPro Investors is a group of accredited investors based in New York USA. The group is made up of over 1 healthcare professionals seeking to invest in technologies that significantly advance the standard of care. The group considers companies at a range of stages and is geographically agnostic. Since the members are investing their own capital the investment size and capital structure are highly flexible. The group is actively seeking new investment opportunities and is open to leading financing rounds.
Stephen Nagler
Executive Director 

Mesa Verde Venture Partners United States

Mesa Verde Venture Partners is a Venture Capital company founded in 2006. The firm is currently making investments out of its 2nd fund that had its first close in 2013. The firm makes primarily equity investment into seed and early stage rounds ranging from $500,000 to $1 million initially and up to $1.5 million over the lifetime of the investment. The firm is focused on companies located in the Southwestern United States although they are open to review companies from throughout the US. The firm could make as many as 3 new investments over the next 6-9 months.

Year Founded
2006
Investor Type
Biotech Phase of Development
Medtech Phase of Development
Capital Structure Preference
Investment Stage Preference
Carey Ng
Managing Director 
Randy Berholtz
Senior Advisor 

Mid Atlantic Bio Angels

Mid Atlantic Bio Angels (MABA) founded in 212 is an angel investor group based in the New York City area which focuses exclusively on new and emerging life science companies. The group places no geographical restrictions or requirements for presenting companies as long as meaningful and effective post-investment monitoring of these companies can be achieved, MABA has considered opportunities in Europe and Israel as well as across the USA and Canada. Since the members are investing their own capital the investment size is highly flexible and will depend on the financial needs of the company. The capital structure is typically in preferred stocks or convertible notes in qualified cases. The group prefers to invest in companies with valuations of less than $5M. As MABA prefers opportunities that can be entirely angel-financed MABA generally requires that companies can achieve exit with $15 million capital or under (generally after raising a Series B round but no further rounds).

Bernard Rudnick
Founder 

MidCap Financial LLC

MidCap Financial is a commercial finance firm that was founded in 28 with offices in Bethesda MD Chicago IL and Los Angeles CA. The firm focuses on providing debt financing solutions to healthcare companies. The firm generally provides loans of around $15 million and is involved in approximately 15 new deals each year. The firm considers companies located around globe.
Josh Groman
Managing Director 
James Taylor
Director 

Naegis Pharmaceuticals Inc. Canada

Naegis, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is developing novel, small-molecule leukotirene synthesis inhibitors (LTSIs) for serious inflammatory conditions.  The Company is currently focused on two proprietary programs: 

topical and oral therapy for Uveitis, a condition that is responsible for 10% of legal blindness in the US and for which there are limited therapeutic options. 

o oral therapy for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD),  a serious lung disease with increasing rates of mortality.

Naegis has developed a large library of LTSIs that are potent inhibitors of either 5-LO or LTA4H.  The Company is currently identifying a lead compound for selection for futher development for ocular disease, in particular Uveitis.

The Company is also advancing a series of compounds that are novel structures and highly selective and potent inhibitors of LTA4H, which are expected to be developed as new therpaies for COPD

Naegis is seeking pharmaceutical partners and capital investment to advance more rapidly their novel programs.

Year Founded
2010
Biotech Subsector
Biotech Phase of Development
Technology Overview
Leukotrienes are key inflammatory mediators implicated in many diseases. There is growing evidence of their central role in Uveitis. 5-LO inhibitors have been shown to reduce the clinical signs of uveitis in animal models. Naegis is developing potent 5-LO inhibitors that are both topically and orally active, with unique structures that are not expected to have the limitations of earlier 5-LO inhibitors. In COPD recent evidence has demonstrated the critical role for LTA4H in the progression and persistence of the disease. However it has recently been shown that LTA4H has a dual role and functions as both a pro and anti-inflammatory. Thus it is necessary to identify compounds that are active only against the pro-inflammatory function of the enzyme, whilst sparing its anti-inflammatory effects. Naegis is developing highly specific inhibitors of LTA4H that inhibit only the anti-inflammatory activity of LTA4H.
Alliance & Collaborations
In discussion
Current Financing Needs
$500,000 - $1,000,000
Current Timeline
Lead
Current Investors
Private.
IP Status
Proprietary compounds
Management Team Highlights
CEO - Dr. David Burgoyne an experienced medicinal chemist who has developed compounds that are in current human clinical trials. Also on the Board are Dr. Philip Davies, formerly Executive Director of Research and Area Head of Immunology at Merck, New Jersey. Also Dr Julia Levy, founder of QLT and developer of the first effective therapy for macular degeneration.
Ian McBeath
Ian McBeath
Corporate Development 

New Leaf Venture Partners

New Leaf Venture Partners is a venture capital company formed in 25 with offices in New York and San Mateo California. The firm currently manages two funds with its most recent fund having closed at $45 million in 27. The firm is looking to make equity investments ranging from $1-$25 million over the lifetime of the investment. The firm looks for companies primarily in the United States and some select opportunities in Europe. The firm plans to make between 1-5 investments over the next year.
Mike Dybbs
Principal 

NYU Office of Therapeutics Alliances

The NYU Office of Industrial Liaison (OIL) promotes the commercial development of NYU technologies into products to benefit the public, while providing resources to the University to support its research, education, and patient care missions. NYU OIL also facilitates research collaborations between NYU researchers and industry on projects of mutual interest.

In 2013, NYU launched the Office of Therapeutics Alliances (OTA). OTA is a nimble, "virtual biotech" approach to advance novel therapeutic projects by playing on the strengths of NYU in dissecting disease pathways and those of external, professional capabilities in early stage R&D. OTA identifies NYU projects with potential for addressing unmet needs, delineates the path to therapeutic proof of concept and assembles internal and external resources tailored to each specific project’s needs to maximize the likelihood of successful partnerships with biopharma, new biotech startups or disease foundations. 

Nadim Shohdy
Director, Drug Discovery Partnerships 
Sunil Shah
Partner 
Prashant Shah
Partner 

Orphagen Pharmaceuticals United States

Orphagen’s focus is small molecule discovery at novel drug targets. We create programs leading to first-in-class drugs. Our goal is to partner these with development stage pharmaceutical companies.

We have been first mover in creating three discovery programs for novel targets, including one program that initiated Phase 1 clinical trials with a strategic partner (JT Pharma) in 2013 for autoimmune disease.

We work with novel drug targets from a very productive target class, the nuclear receptors.

Our work has so far been funded by $15 M in federal grants and partnership revenue. Orphagen is in the process of raising equity funding to accelerate current programs.

Orphagen’s lead internal program is for retinitis pigmentosa, the major form of hereditary blindness. Closely following are antagonists to SF-1, a promising target for treatment of Cushing’s syndrome, a life-threatening endocrine disorder, and two cancers with an endocrine connection: prostate cancer and adrenocortical cancer. New target screening may lead to first-in-class programs for glioblastoma, sickle cell anemia, and cancer immunotherapy.

Website:
www.orphagen.com
Year Founded
2000
Biotech Subsector
Biotech Phase of Development
Technology Overview
Orphagen targets unexplored or “orphan” nuclear receptors (NRs), members of a receptor family that includes targets for major breast and prostate cancer drugs and for anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids. Approximately half of the 48 known NRs are targets for drugs on the market or new compounds approaching FDA approval. These marketed drugs generate in excess of $10 billion in annual U.S. sales alone. The remaining nuclear receptors, the orphans, have potential for design of first-in-class drugs. Orphagen has proprietary methodology, experience and knowhow for identifying drug-like small molecules that turn these receptors on and off. Orphagen’s work with these orphans is based on close relationships with academic laboratories.
Alliance & Collaborations
In 2003-6, Orphagen developed a first-in-class drug discovery program for ROR-gamma, a new target for autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and steroid-resistant asthma. Orphagen licensed its discovery-phase ROR-gamma program to JT Pharma in 2008. In 2013, JT Pharma initiated the first Phase 1 clinical trial for this target. BMS, Merck, Pfizer, Janssen, and Amgen also started biotech partnerships for the same target, but not until 2 to 5 years after JT-Pharma and Orphagen. Orphagen has demonstrated ability as a first mover for novel drug targets.
Supporting Metrics or Evidence
Approximately 50% of all industry partnership deals are done early, at a preclinical stage. Upfront payments for first-in-class drugs can reach $10-15 M and have grown substantially in the last 15 years. Combined later milestones are greater: $100 M to $300 M. First-in-class programs, such as Orphagen’s, are likely candidates for accelerated approval by the FDA, which markedly increases their potential for appreciated value. Orphagen plans to partner its discovery and development programs one by one as they mature. Partnership revenue will be used to expand R&D in Orphagen’s discovery pipeline and, when sufficient, to return capital to investors.
Current Financing Needs
$3 M to accelerate the Orphagen program for retinitis pigmentosa and to support a backup program (SF-1). Orphagen continues to receive significant non-dilutive funding from its ongoing partnership, from grants, and from sale of non-proprietary assay services.
Current Timeline
Orphagen expects to have advanced preclinical proof-of-principle data for retinitis pigmentosa and to execute a value-generating partnership for this indication in 2016. This is Orphagen’s most advanced internal program. Additional lead stage partnerships are anticipated in 2017 and beyond. Orphagen is also exploring revenue-generating partnerships in 2015-2016 for new target screening.
Current Investors
Friends and family, only. Orphagen has a single class of stock, Common stock.
IP Status
Orphagen has filed broad use patents for all ligands to two of its major targets where it has been the first to identify small molecule agonists or antagonists. Its screening technology and lead compounds, which are new chemical entities, are maintained as trade secrets.
Recent Milestones
2010-14 Phase 1 SBIRs for: (i) prostate cancer; (ii) endometriosis; (iii) glioblastoma; (iv) retinitis pigmentosa (RP); and (v) Cushing’s syndrome. 2013 File broad use provisional patent application on novel target for RP. 2013 JT Pharma starts Phase 1 clinical trial based on Orphagen strategic partnership. 2014 Structural biology collaboration for SF-1 with pharmaceutical partner. 2014 Initial proof-of-principle for treatment of RP in an animal model of disease. Identification of target co-crystal structure.
Management Team Highlights
Scott Thacher, Ph.D. Founder, CEO and CSO. Investigator for 15 SBIR grants to Orphagen. Concluded Orphagen’s licensing deal with Japan Tobacco. Previous: Investigator at Allergan. Co-founder: Io Therapeutics. Judy Blakemore. Director Business Development. Former interim COO at Onyx. Business development and transactional advisor for small to mid-size biotechnology companies since 1993. Paul Crowe, Ph.D. Director of Biology, Former Senior Director Pharmacology at Neurocrine. Ruo Steensma, Ph.D. Director of Chemistry, Former Director at Structural Genomix.
Dr Scott Thacher
LinkedIn logo CEO 
BIO

Scott Thacher, Ph.D., CEO and Director, founded Orphagen in 2001.  He has 30 years of experience in life sciences research and pharmaceutical R&D and led Orphagen to its first partnership in 2008. Prior to founding Orphagen, Scott directed programs in acne, psoriasis, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes at Allergan. Scott was previously on the biochemistry faculty at the Texas A&M College of Medicine (1986-1993) and was a Staff Fellow at the NIH. He holds a Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard University and a B.S. in physics (Stanford).

Pappas Ventures

Pappas Ventures is a Venture Capital company based in Durham North Carolina founded in 1994. The firm manages 4 funds for a total of approximately $35 million in assets under management. The firms is currently investing out of its $1 million 4th fund focused exclusively on the life sciences. The firm looks to provide up to $5 million of preferred equity capital in the initial round and up to $1 million over the life of the investment. The firm is very flexible in terms of period to exit but generally looks to exit in around 5 years. The firm plans to make 2-3 investments over the next 6-9 months and will consider companies throughout North America.
Jayson Punwani
Associate