Pharmos Corporation Engages Burrill & Company for Business Development Initiatives
Friday May 19, 6:00 am ET
ISELIN, N.J., May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pharmos Corporation (Nasdaq: PARS - News), which recently entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Vela Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Vela), announced today that it has retained Burrill & Company on several business development initiatives. Burrill & Company is a life sciences merchant bank headquartered in San Francisco.
Pharmos said that Burrill will explore out-licensing opportunities for several of Pharmos' assets. Burrill's efforts will cover dexanabinol, a neuroprotective agent that successfully completed a Phase IIa clinical trial as a preventive agent against post-surgical cognitive impairment. Efforts will also focus on selective scientific business partnerships relating to the CB2- selective cannabinoid compounds in Pharmos' pipeline. The Company's CB2- selective synthetic cannabinoid library consists of cannabinoid receptor agonists that bind preferentially to CB2 receptors; these receptors are found primarily in peripheral immune cells. Burrill will also explore out-licensing opportunities for the Company's platform drug delivery nanotechnologies for the oral, dermal, ocular and parenteral administration of lipophilic compounds including NSAIDs, proteins, vaccines and other drugs with poor water solubility. Following the closing of Pharmos' proposed merger with Vela , Burrill will provide assistance in exploring partnering or out-licensing opportunities for select Vela compounds.
"We are pleased to partner with Pharmos as it seeks to integrate its pending acquisition of Vela Pharmaceuticals and reposition the Company as a specialized pharmaceutical company," said G. Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Company.
Alan L. Rubino, President and Chief Operating Officer of Pharmos, said, "The Burrill engagement is an integral part of the transformation and repositioning of Pharmos. This agreement is intended to be synergistic with both the recently announced agreement to acquire Vela and additional business development initiatives that are designed to optimize our pipeline and enhance our business growth opportunities while minimizing our burn rate. Burrill & Company is recognized as one of the leading specialized life sciences merchant-banking firms and has an outstanding track record in identifying and negotiating strategic partnerships and merger and acquisition transactions. Their expertise and experience is a key component of progressing our business development initiatives."... |
