Pain med developer Egalet has found a new investor for a second-round financing and hired former Eli Lilly ($LLY) employee Bob Radie as president and CEO. CLS Capital has joined the company's previous investors--Altas Venture, Omega Funds, Sunstone Capital and Index Ventures--and the company raised $14.3 million in a Series B round of financing.
With the influx of capital, the company plans to move ahead with late-stage studies of its lead anti-pain treaments, which include an extended-release formulation of morphine, according to the startup's website. The company has drug-delivery tech that enables opioids and other meds to be delivered gradually and stymie abuse of the drugs.
Radie, the new CEO, previously served as chief executive of Topaz Pharmaceuticals, which a unit of Sanofi ($SNY) scooped up late last year to acquire its anti-lice treatment. His nearly 30-year career in the biopharma industry includes stints at TransMolecular, where he was CEO, Morphoteck, Vicuron Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly.
"With the funds raised and Bob's appointment, Egalet is well positioned to move through the final stage of development with its lead abuse-resistant pain programs," Atlas partner Jean-Francois Formela, Egalet's chairman, said in a statement. "With the increase in abuse of pain medications and the increasingly restrictive regulation and oversight of pain medications, there is a growing need for the Egalet's abuse-resistant opioids in development."
- here's the release