corus pharma ist eine kleine Biotech-Firma aus Seattle. Interessant: B.Gates "Cascade Investment " investierte am 21.2.2003 in 3.55 Mio Aktien für 0.97$, hält also etwa 9%. Vor dem geplanten IPO (Ende August bei der SEC angemeldet) sind viele starke Firmen für rund 60 Mio $ eingestiegen. Zwei aussichtsreiche Medikamente gegen Lungen-Probleme sind in der Pipeline.
Smoky
Am besten selber lesen ......
Ausschnitt aus timesonline
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5-1240042,00.html
August 31, 2004
Gates stake in drug group
Bill Gates, the Microsoft billionaire, has emerged as a 9 per cent shareholder in Corus Pharma, a Seattle drug development firm that is planning a $100 million (£56 million) float. Although the IPO market has been slow, Corus could succeed in going public in the next few months, partly on the reputation of Mr Gates.
Mehr Infos
Seattle-Based Corus Pharma Files for $100 Million Initial Public Offering of Common Shares
August 27, 2004 - 16:39:21
NEW YORK (AP) - Corus Pharma Inc. is planning an initial public offering of up to $100 million in common shares, according to a statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday.
The Seattle-based biopharmaceutical firm is developing treatments for respiratory disease, including an inhaled antibiotic for cystic fibrosis patients, and an inhaled form of lidocaine to treat severe cases of asthma.
Corus said it plans to use the proceeds from its IPO for continued development of these two drugs, as well as for development of other agents. The company said it may use some of the proceeds for acquisitions, though it does not have any planned.
Corus posted a loss of $25.1 million in 2003, and has not yet generated revenue. It applied to trade on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "CSPH."
UND NOCH EIN ARTIKEL, hier gehts um die investierten Companies
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/168764_corus13.html
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
$60 million round for Corus Pharma
More needed to bring 2 drugs to market
By JOHN COOK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Corus Pharma has raised $60 million in venture financing that the Seattle biotechnology company will use to develop drugs for the treatment of cystic fibrosis and asthma.
It is the largest venture capital round in the state this year and one of the top five investments in a biopharmaceutical company in the country in the past 12 months.
The amount was also more than the 3-year-old company expected when it hit the financing trail in December. Corus Pharma originally planned to raise $40 million to $50 million, but investor interest drove the dollar amount higher, Chief Financial Officer Guy Seaton said. The company received offers from four separate venture groups and expects to bring in an additional $4 million to $5 million in the next 30 days, Seaton said. It also may pursue an initial public offering, though no formal plans are in the works.
"The market conditions from a pharmaceutical and biotechnology standpoint have improved dramatically in the past 16 months," Seaton said. "So people are in a much better disposition."
The round was led by Bear Stears Health Innoventures with Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management, AIG Sun America Ventures, MPM BioEquities, the Carnegie Group and former Immunex executive and Corus chairman Kirby Cramer also participating. More than 10 existing investors also provided money, including Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and JP Morgan Partners. Total financing in the company now stands at $120 million.
Although the round is one of the largest in the country, it will not be enough to bring the company's two experimental drugs to market. Those drugs, which reformulate existing medications into treatments for asthma and cystic fibrosis, are currently in Phase 2 clinical trials.
In order for Corus Pharma to commercialize its cystic fibrosis drug, Seaton said the company will have to raise $40 million to $60 million more. He said the company could do that through an IPO, additional private financing or a partnership with a larger pharmaceutical company.
If all goes as planned, he said the cystic fibrosis drug -- an inhaled antibiotic that combats lung infections -- would be approved by mid-2006. With help from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics Development Network, the company is currently enrolling 136 patients in a study. That study should be completed by the end of next month with data available in July or August.
Corus Pharma's success in the venture capital community can be tied to three factors. It boasts an experienced management team, a solid lineup of drug candidates and employs a drug development strategy that some believe is less risky than many biotechnology companies.
By reformulating existing medications, Corus Pharma's drug candidates have a better chance of success, investors say. For example, the company's inhaled asthma treatment is based on lidocaine -- an anesthetic typically used in dental procedures. The cystic fibrosis drug traces its history to aztreonam, an injected antibiotic originally developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
"Our core strength and competency reside in our ability to identify existing compounds that are probable to have efficacy in the inhalation route of administration," Seaton said.
That is an attractive characteristic for investors.
"It is a great strategy and a much safer strategy than starting with some novel compound and having to plow $800 million into it," said investor Samuel Wertheimer, a principal with OrbiMed Advisors in New York. "As an investor, particularly in this market condition, this is a much better place for your money."
The company has other early-stage drugs under development, though Seaton declined to say what diseases they may target. Corus Pharma scrapped plans for a sleep apnea and snoring drug about two years ago because the company could not design an easy method for home administration. It is currently waiting to receive patents on that compound so the intellectual property can be sold.
Corus Pharma was founded in January 2001 by A. Bruce Montgomery, the former vice president of research and development at Seattle-based PathoGenesis. Before joining PathoGenesis, Montgomery helped Genentech Inc. develop the cystic fibrosis treatment Pulmozyme. He has the reputation as an innovator and a savvy businessman.
"Bruce has a long history as a drug finder, and that is a rare commodity in the biotech industry," Wertheimer said. "He has a real nose for where the opportunities are."
Several of the company's top executives are recruits from PathoGenesis, which was sold to Chiron for about $700 million in August 2000.
The company employs 80 people with plans to add up to 25 more this year.
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