By Lisa Lacy, VentureWire Lifescience
Coral Gables, Fla., 12/10/2004
Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on products to treat drug addiction, will begin raising a $10 million Series B round next month to fund clinical trials, Chief Executive Patrick McEnany told VentureWire.
The company has raised about $1 million from friends and family to date. McEnany hopes to close the Series B round by March or April. "We've had preliminary discussions with several institutions...and we expect to kick off right after the first of the year," he said.
To facilitate fundraising, Catalyst has brought on Jack Weinstein as its first chief financial officer. Weinstein has served with various firms, including Avalon Group Ltd., Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., Gruntal & Co., Lepercq, de Neuflize & Co. and E.F. Hutton & Co. He was also a general partner of Lepercq Capital Partners.
In April 2003, Catalyst raised $700,000 in Series A financing from undisclosed individual investors, giving the company a post-money valuation of $2.7 million, according to McEnany. He formerly served as chairman and CEO of Royce Laboratories, a generic drug company that was acquired by Watson Pharmaceutical in 1997.
Catalyst has submitted an investigational new drug application, or IND, to the Food and Drug Administration to evaluate its lead compound, CPP-109, as a potential treatment for cocaine addiction. The company expects to begin a Phase I trial to assess the safety of the interaction of CPP-109 and cocaine in a clinical setting in late January or early February.
CPP-109, or Vigabatrin, works by inhibiting an enzyme that normally breaks down gamma amino butyric acid, or GABA, a dopamine-modulating enzyme. Addictive drugs elevate dopamine levels in the parts of the brain associated with reward and reinforcement.
Catalyst concluded the second of two small-scale human trials on CPP-109 in February at an addiction treatment center in Mexicali, Mexico. The studies, conducted by Stephen Dewey of Brookhaven National Laboratory and Jonathan Brodie, a psychiatrist at the New York University School of Medicine, showed there were no safety complications.
The product is approved for the treatment of epilepsy in numerous countries, including Mexico, but it is not approved for any indication in the U.S. because some epilepsy patients who have taken cumulative doses in excess of 1500 grams have lost some of their peripheral vision. McEnany said loss of vision is associated with chronic use; Catalyst uses no more than 200 grams over an eight to 12 week period.
In August 1998, scientists from Brookhaven National Laboratory, along with researchers from St. John's University, New York University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Boston University, reported that the drug blocked cocaine's effect in the brains of primates and significantly decreased drug-seeking behavior in rodents. In subsequent studies, Brookhaven collaborators found that the drug effectively blocked test animals' craving for cocaine, nicotine, heroin, alcohol and methamphetamine by modulating the effects of dopamine.
In October 2002, Catalyst received an exclusive worldwide license for the use of Vigabatrin in treating drug addiction from an arm of Brookhaven, which is part of the Department of Energy. Prior to the license agreement, Catalyst had been operating as a business consulting firm to the pharmaceutical industry.
Founded in July 2002, the company has four employees and will add a president/COO as well as regulatory staff after the close of the Series B round.
For more information contact:
Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc.
220 Miracle Mile, Suite 234
Coral Gables, FL 33134 USA
Tel (305) 529-2522
Fax (305) 529-0933