WORCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 2003-- Hypnion, Inc. today announced it raised $47.5 million in a Series B round of private equity financing led by Forward Ventures and MPM Capital. With the current round of financing, Hypnion expects to enter clinical trials with several proprietary compounds that have superior preclinical efficacy and safety compared to the current market leaders in sleep and wake promotion.
Other investors included Advanced Technology Ventures, S.R. One, Limited, JAFCO and Coastview Capital, along with returning Series A investors Oxford Bioscience Partners, Flagship Ventures, and GIMV.
"This latest round of financing by some of the most important names in venture funding demonstrates the confidence our investors have in the viability and market potential of the products we are developing," said John Dee, President and CEO of Hypnion. "Our priority will be to advance our lead program into clinical trials by early 2004."
"Hypnion is poised for success given the promise of its compounds, the advantages the company has in lead optimization, and the strength of its team," said Joel Martin, Partner with Forward Ventures.
"The large size of the market for sleep disorder therapies and the improvement that Hypnion's products represent over existing drugs makes Hypnion an attractive investment for us," said Nick Galakatos, General Partner with MPM Capital.
More than 50 million people in the U.S. suffer from serious sleep disorders that include insomnia, sleep apnea, excessive daytime sleepiness and circadian rhythm abnormalities such as jet-lag and shift-work disorders. Current therapies for these conditions have significant limitations when used chronically or for treating the elderly. The market leader in sleep therapeutics is currently Ambien®, a $1 billion U.S. product, and the leader in wake-alertness is ProVigil®, a $200 million U.S. product with rapidly growing sales.
Hypnion has proprietary rights to the world's most advanced in-vivo sleep-wake testing system -- SCORE-2000(TM). Based on 15 years of research at Stanford University and developed by Hypnion's Chief Science and Technology Officer, Dr. Dale Edgar, SCORE-2000(TM) is highly predictive of human response for many sleep-wake efficacy and side-effect parameters, significantly lowering clinical trial risk. Through SCORE, Hypnion is targeting innovative medicines designed to be highly efficacious and less prone to undesirable side effects than existing drugs. The patient population for sleep disorders is larger than those for anxiety or depression and represents a potential $10 billion market in the U.S.
Initially the company is transforming safe, marketed compounds into sleep-wake therapeutics by designing patentable analogs that have optimal sleep-wake efficacy and minimal side effects. These compounds work on primary sleep-wake pathways that have no evidence of addiction or abuse potential. The company has three such preclinical drug programs and many more under evaluation. Under the leadership of Dr. James White, Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Dr. Dale Edgar, Hypnion has selected a clinical development candidate for its lead insomnia program and several backup compounds. The company expects to select preclinical development candidates for two other lead programs this year.
Hypnion also announced today several new members of the company's board of directors: Joel Martin, Ph.D., Partner, Forward Ventures; Nicholas Galakatos, Ph.D., General Partner, MPM Capital; Jean M. George, Partner, Advanced Technology Ventures; and Edward Scolnick, M.D., former President Merck Research Laboratories. Other Board Directors include, Jonathan J. Fleming, Managing Partner, Oxford Bioscience Partners; David K. Stone, Managing Director, Flagship Ventures; Elkan R. Gamzu, Ph.D., Principal, enERGetics and John F. Dee, President and CEO of Hypnion. Hypnion's scientific advisory board, executive management team and scientific team include the world's leading experts in sleep disorders.
About Hypnion
Hypnion is a neuroscience drug discovery company whose objective is to become the worldwide leader in sleep-wake neurobiology and pharmaceuticals. This field includes both disorders of sleep (e.g., insomnia, sleep apnea, excessive daytime sleepiness) and circadian rhythm abnormalities (e.g., jet-lag, shift-work disorders), which affect over 50 million people in the U.S. alone. The Company was founded by leading scientists in the field of sleep research to enable the discovery and development of new therapies for this large and relatively untapped market. For more information visit www.hypnion.com. |
