Neuromed Pharmaceuticals
Based: Conshohoken, PA
Why It's Fierce: Neuromed just signed a $475 million licensing deal with Merck for its lead compound, the pain therapy NMED-160, which is currently in Phase II. The company--a spin-off from the University of British Columbia founded by Neuromed's chief scientific officer, Dr. Terrance Snutch--has also landed $74 million in venture financing, including a $25 million Series D in March. The licensing deal helps validate the company's belief that blocking pain signaling through the N-type calcium channel offers a novel method for treating pain, and Merck was anxious to get its hands on what has the potential to emerge as a new generation of pain drugs. Neuromed has spent the past eight years exploring therapies for calcium channel blocking for pain, anxiety, cardiovascular disease and epilepsy. Calcium channels regulate the concentration of calcium in cells, affecting functions that include electrical pain signaling in the nervous system, heart and muscle contractions, and hormone release. "The sweet spot for a company with the kind of capacities we have and strengths we have is coming up with one productive molecule after another," says Dr. Christopher Gallen, Neuromed's CEO. If the molecule has major market potential, then it's likely that Neuromed will license it out to a larger development partner. But if there are smaller market indications, Neuromed plans to explore marketing those itself. "It happens that our drugs are relevant to big market indications," he adds. "But we can easily find small market indications." Those are bold words for a company with 45 people working in its discovery group in Vancouver and five others in Neuromed's business office in Philadelphia. The split locations are designed to help ease the company's IPO in the U.S., when the time is right. It hasn't hurt Neuromed that biopharma giants like Merck are actively in the hunt to nail down new compounds. What to look for: An eventual IPO and further licensing deals. |
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