APT Pharmaceuticals Closes
New $22 Million Funding Round
BURLINGAME,
CA – OCTOBER 4, 2007
APT Pharmaceuticals, a specialty drug development
company focused on effective treatments for significant unmet
medical needs, announced today that it has closed a $22 million
Series A-2 round of financing. New investors Versant Ventures
and Great Point Partners joined existing firms Vivo Ventures
and Charter Life Sciences in the round. Coinciding with the
funding, Camille Samuels, Managing Director, Versant Ventures
and David Kroin, Managing Director, Great Point Partners have
joined the APT board.
The company, which has received a total
of $30 million in funding to date, will use the new funding
to advance its development pipeline which includes Pulminiq,
a Phase III drug for prevention of lung transplant rejection,
a novel cardioprotectant and several other projects.
APT also announced the appointment of Ralph
Niven PhD, as Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Niven has two decades
of experience in the operations, management and technology
development of biopharmaceutical companies and has worked extensively
in all aspects of preclinical and early clinical development.
He was formerly Senior Vice President of Preclinical Development
for Discovery Labs.
"APT has all the makings of a premier
drug development firm with its experienced and respected team
and their keen sense for clinical unmet needs that address
sound market segments," said Camille Samuels of Versant
Ventures. “Also, APT has a strong, capital-efficient
business model encompassing a robust therapeutic drug development
strategy,” added Samuels.
“We are extremely pleased with the
outcome of this funding round,” said Dr. Stephen Dilly,
President and CEO of APT. “We have added two more high-caliber
investors to our investor base and secured the resources to
make major progress with our development pipeline. I am very
excited to welcome Camille and David onto our Board and to
have Ralph join our senior executive team. We now have the
people, the products and the resources we need to build significant
value over the next few years.”
About APT Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.
APT Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a drug development company based
in Burlingame, California. APT is backed by several leading
venture capital firms, including Vivo Ventures, Versant Ventures
and Charter Life Sciences and by Great Point Partners, a leading
healthcare investment firm.
For more information: www.aptbio.com.
CONTACT:
Ted Rossman/Lisa Kelaita
New Venture Communications
(650) 343-2735
trossman@newventurecom.com
lkelaita@newventurecom.com
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