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We are focused on Valley Fever, an orphan disease that kills 150 people a year. Thousands are taking drugs for life, and many others have no effective drug therapy options. Nikkomycin-Z is a new, first in class antifungal ready for Phase II testing. Teliable animal models suggest NikZ will be effective. 

With our guidance, the NIH is funding two Phase II trials starting about late 2015. We would like to run a third, sweet-spot-of-market trial as soon as we secure funding. Our Chief Medical Officer is lead author on an NIH study on standard of care drugs for this disease. We plan to try NikZ under a simlar protocol as soon as we secure support. 

Valley Fever Solutions has made our API at pilot scale. The process is robust and repeatable. We are ready to make a large batch as soon as we secure funding. We expect the proof of concept trial can reach at least early readout within 18 months of funding. This can be achieved for less than $10M.

Advances in synthetic chemistry and drug screening techniques have flooded the pharmaceutical industry with potential new drugs. At the same time, industry consolidation and financial pressures on R&D budgets have reduced the ability of biotech and pharmaceutical companies to develop early stage drugs. As a result of these market forces, large pharmaceutical companies have restricted their drug development activities to "blockbuster" drugs ($1 billion revenues) with proven efficacy. Promising early-stage drugs developed in emerging biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and university research laboratories are being shelved. 
VDDI Pharmaceuticals has been formed to capitalize on these opportunities. The Company will license attractive product development opportunities from academic institutions, biotech firms and pharmaceutical companies. VDDI Pharmaceuticals will focus on pharmaceutical product opportunities where general proof-of-principle has already been established in pre-clinical or human testing, and where the products are novel and offer significant potential advantages to products currently in the market or in development. VDDI Pharmaceuticals will pursue early-stage products qualifying for fast track approval, primarily in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease and infectious disease and develop the products through Phase II of the required regulatory approval processes. The developed products will be licensed to existing pharmaceutical companies for product marketing, thereby generating license fees and ongoing royalties for VDDI Pharmaceuticals.

As its name suggests, VDDI Pharmaceuticals utilizes a virtual business model. Virtual drug development entails: (i) a small core group of employees responsible for strategic management, regulatory strategy, and financial control, (ii) outsourcing all non-core business functions, including preclinical and clinical drug development, and (iii) electronic data capture and data submission to regulatory authorities. By adopting this model, VDDI Pharmaceuticals believes it can reduce total drug development program costs by at least 25% and development times by up to 50%.

Ventac Partners is a dedicated life science investment and consulting firm with offices in Europe, USA and Asia. Ventac Partners has a strong track record in founding new innovative companies, fund raising and supporting M&A transactions.

All partners are experienced and hands-on life science entrepreneurs with proven track-record in successfully starting, funding, growing and expanding international life science companies.

Venture Valuation specializes in independent assessments and valuations of companies in high-growth markets, such as biotechnology, life sciences and medical technology. Further more, the company runs the global Biotech Database (www.biotechgate.com) as a subscription service as well as a white label solution for clients like BIOTECanada, BioCom San Diego, Maryland, HTX, OneNucleus, Swiss Biotech Association, SwedenBIO, Medicon Valley and many more.

Company Valuation:
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The Company Valuation Reports include a thorough assessment of the company by experienced professionals with expertise in the relevant fields as well as the following elements:

• summary of key risk parameters and strengths of the company
• outline of the crucial factors and value drivers for growth and further strategic development
• assessment of the management, market, science, technology and products
• analysis of the company’s business model and the company’s competitive environment
• detailed calculation of the company’s financial value, using appropriate valuation methods

Product Valuation:
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Venture Valuation offers detailed Product Valuation Reports of pre-clinical and clinical products in development that can serve as a basis for negotiations or to structure different deal scenarios. The Product Valuation includes:

• detailed analysis of development costs, time lines, patient population, competing products, pricing and product life cycle
• industry gold standard rNPV valuation methodology based on indication-specific attrition rates and the development stage
• scenario and sensitivity analyses
• analysis of the current value, and forecasts of the future value following the successful completion of key development milestones

As an “add on” module and based on Venture Valuation’s deal database within Biotechgate, benchmarking deals can also be included to provide the client with a differentiated negotiation basis and comparable information.

Licensing Candidate Search:
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Based on unique valuation and industry expertise, and leveraging access to the proprietary client and products database, Venture Valuation offers individual, tailor-made solutions to customers. The Licensing Candidate Search includes licensing partner identification and an evaluation of potential products for licensing.

Biotechgate Database:
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Venture Valuation has developed and maintains the Biotechgate Database (biotechgate.com). Biotechgate is a global life sciences directory established in 2004 based on the needs of investors and company managers to access accurate and up-to-date industry intelligence.

The database contains over 30’000 company profiles. For Business Development managers, the database provides benchmarking licensing opportunities as well as detailed financial information covering more than 1’600 licensing deals involving therapeutic products and over 5’000 financing rounds.

VC fund focusing on investments in Switzerland and surounding areas

viDA is a preclinical biotechnology company pursuing the development of first-in-class drugs for the treatment of several inflammatory and age-related conditions of the skin, respiratory, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and neurological systems.Our platform is based on recently identified, specifically extracellular, pathological roles of a family of serine proteases called Granzymes. 

Currently, our focus is specifically on extracellular Granzyme B (GzmB) and its role in a range of disease states involving inflammation and tissue damage. GzmB actively participates in the degradation of key components of the body’s extracellular matrix, which acts as a scaffold for cell binding and provides essential structural integrity for proper function of tissues and organs.

Based on this new mechanism of action, these molecules have shown positive therapeutic outcomes in a number of disease-specific models. viDA has been reviewing MS and the orphan indication of Discoid Lupus specifically.

Our lead compound is in preclinical development and is intended to be a topical treatment for Discoid Lupus. The lead candidate exhibits a high degree of specificity and selectivity for extracellular GzmB. The compound has attractive drug-like properties for topical application and is being assessed for other possible routes of administration amenable to treatment of other diseases.

The Company has developed a library of additional proprietary first-in-class small molecule inhibitors to GzmB. These innovative molecules will have specific properties amenable to treatment of diseases requiring different routes of administration. 

Studies using inhibitors and knockout approaches have demonstrated that GzmB inhibition does not suppress immunity.

Vigilant Biosciences, Inc. (“Vigilant”) is an oncology-focused company providing early intervention for better outcomes. Our initial products include a quantitative lab assay as well as an oral rinse and test strip kit for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).  The products are scheduled for product launch in 2015 to compete in the $3.9B US and $10.2B global HNSCC markets.

Unmet Clinical Need

 It is estimated that some $3.9B will be spent treating the 50,000+ people in the U.S. that are diagnosed with oral cancer in 2014.  Currently, a visual and physical examination is the “gold standard” for oral screening followed up with biopsy, but 2/3 of cases are diagnosed at Stage III or Stage IV with this method.  However, early intervention yields 80% - 90% cure rate representing a potential savings of $2B if the oral cancer is diagnosed at Stage I/II or earlier.  What is missing is a simple, specific and cost-effective test that can screen and aid in detection for early stage oral cancers.

The Solution 

The Vigilant oral cancer risk assessment kit is formulated to detect proteins specific to oral cancer captured by an oral rinse. Competitively priced, the test kit’s ease-of-use will be championed by clinicians; its specificity to minimize false positives and to detect oral cancer early will be championed by patients and doctors, and its cost-effectiveness will be championed by all.

Technology  

U.S. Patent #8,088,591 issued in early 2012 for broad method claims to associate certain key biomarkers specific for oral cancer as part of the technology portfolio exclusively licensed to Vigilant from the University of Miami.  Additional U.S. and international patent applications subject to the licensed portfolio are pending.

Competitive Advantage

The current “gold standard” for screening is a visual/manual oral examination given by the dental professional as part of the annual checkup standard of care followed up with biopsy for suspicious lesions.  However, over 2/3 of all oral cancers are identified at Stage III or Stage IV.  Vigilant seeks to revolutionize the oral cancer screening market by providing an easy-to-use, HNSCC specific test that allows for detection even before visual symptoms present.

Currently, there are several light-based systems and limited lab tests attempting to address the need for earlier intervention.  Light based systems include spectroscopic and chemiluminescent-based (light-based aid requiring use of acid or dye) offerings.  Lab based systems include liquid cytology or HPV tests.  Insufficient and inconclusive clinical data exists to support widespread acceptance of current offerings as screening or diagnostic aids and tools for HNSCC.  With respect to the light-based systems additional drawbacks of these systems include that:  (1) They address “abnormalities” in general versus HNSCC specifically; (2) They can require a significant upfront capital investment; (3) They are labor intensive and disruptive to business operations for dental practices; (4) Some are invasive requiring tissue excision; and (5) Results can be subjective depending on the examiner.  Lab-based system drawbacks include lack of proven clinical utility with its results and the costs.

The Vigilant solution overcomes these drawbacks by:  (1) detecting protein markers specifically for oral cancer; (2) requiring no significant capital investment; and (3) providing “easy-to-use” and “low touch” instructions to provide immediate and objective results.

VisionScope Technologies (VSI) is an early stage medical device company utilizing state of the art video hardware, micro-optics (1.4mm) and advanced computational software to bring arthroscopic imaging to the surgeon’s office. The company’s VisionScope Imaging (VSI) system brings gold standard accuracy into the clinic, providing surgeons with direct visualization of patients’ joint space – views that could previously only be achieved in the operating room – providing better outcomes at a lower cost to both MRI and OR based diagnostics.

 Benefits of VSI:    

·     High definition quality of a VSI diagnostic can eliminate the need for a MRI and rule out OR based diagnostic surgery

·     More detailed and accurate than a MRI for joint conditions

·     Significantly reduces the cost of care for individuals and overall healthcare systems

·     Patient centric exam – the patient participates in treatment discussion