Biopure's products (both veterinary and human) are from bovine-derived hemoglobin. McCamant notes (MTSL 2/20/97) that product development was largely financed by Upjohn, which abandoned the alliance after its merger with Pharmacia.
Here is the Biopure press release:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Biopure Corporation, a privately
held biopharmaceutical company, today announced the closing of $50 million
in private placement financing, representing one of the largest combined
rounds of private funding in the history of the biotechnology industry.
In addition, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Biopure two
new patents for a proprietary technology used to develop hemoglobin-based
oxygen-carrying solutions, also known as oxygen therapeutics or blood
substitutes.
The $50 million private financing was underwritten in two private
placements. In a Series C convertible preferred stock investment of $29
million, Shoreline Pacific Institutional Finance combined major investors
Oaktree Capital Management and New England Partners. In addition, Biopure
placed $22.6 million in a Series B convertible preferred stock investment
with the assistance of Auerbach, Pollak & Richardson, Inc. Investors
included Zesiger Capital Group, Fanueil Hall Associates, Aspen Venture
Partners, and Schooner Capital Corporation. Biopure has now raised more
than $225 million since its inception in 1984.
"With this investment, these additional patents, and a new, fully
functional, FDA-inspected manufacturing facility, the company is
financially secure and competitively well positioned to introduce the
first commercially available oxygen therapeutic," said Carl W. Rausch,
chairman, president and chief executive officer of Biopure. The company
anticipates U.S. Food and Drug Administration marketing clearance of its
veterinary product, Oxyglobin(r) (hemoglobin glutamer - 200 bovine), in
early 1998. In addition, Biopure's human product, Hemopure(r) (hemoglobin
glutamer - 250 bovine), is in advanced clinical trials for cardiac and
general surgery.
"These oxygen therapeutic solutions are not just substitutes for red blood
cells. They give the body an entirely new oxygen-transport mechanism for
when oxygen is not reaching tissues optimally," said Richard R. Stover,
president of Stover & Associates, LLC, a financial advisory and research
services firm specializing in the life sciences, and managing director of
Auerbach, Pollak & Richardson, Inc. "Because these agents supply oxygen
through plasma and can reach fine tissue circulatory systems that red cells
cannot, they have the potential to temporarily stabilize millions of
patients in critical care situations. This ability to 'bridge' patients
quickly and easily has such broad-ranging application that it could create
a ten-billion dollar industry over the next decade."
"When oxygen therapeutics come to market, they will rank in importance
with antibiotics and the polio vaccine as one of the top ten medical
advances of this century," added C. Everett Koop, M.D., former U.S.
Surgeon General, and a member of Biopure's board of directors. "Beyond
addressing blood shortage and safety problems, this new class of
biopharmaceuticals may also speed the body's own healing process, decrease
post-surgical infections and reduce the effects of ischemic events such as
heart attack and stroke."
PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGY
With the addition of two new patents -- for separating polymerized from
unpolymerized hemoglobin, and for preserving a hemoglobin-based blood
substitute at room temperature -- Biopure now has four U.S. patents and
nine additional patents pending for its collection, ultrapurification,
manufacturing and packaging processes. As a result of these processes,
the company believes its products are the only room-temperature stable
oxygen therapeutics, which have attributes not seen with most other oxygen
therapeutics in development, including a larger polymerized molecule and a
plentiful, well-controlled source of hemoglobin that is free of toxins and
infectious agents.
"Our room-temperature stable products' are more convenient than other
oxygen therapies, which gives us a significant competitive advantage in
addressing critical-care medical needs worldwide," says Rausch. "Since we
have the only veterinary product, a human product in advanced clinical
trials, and a cost-effective manufacturing process with the only scaled-up
facility in the industry, we've been able to secure considerable financial
support."
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Biopure's board of directors recently added two new members. Charles A.
Sanders, M.D., former CEO of Glaxo Pharmaceuticals and vice chairman of
Squibb Corporation, was elected in June. In addition, Stephen A. Kaplan,
principal of Oaktree Capital Management, was elected in connection with
the Series C private placement. They join other experienced members with
business and healthcare credentials, including David N. Judelson, a
co-founder of both Biopure Corporation and Gulf & Western (now Paramount
Communications), and Dr. C. Everett Koop.
OXYGEN THERAPEUTICS
Oxygen therapeutics are intravenously administered solutions that enhance
the transport of oxygen to tissues and organs throughout the body.
Although often referred to as "blood substitutes," oxygen therapeutics may
work more rapidly and more efficiently than red blood cells. Unlike
blood, oxygen therapeutics do not contain red blood cells. Instead, they
supply oxygen to tissues and organs via hemoglobin molecules in the plasma
(the non-cellular, fluid component of blood). In addition, oxygen
therapeutics facilitate oxygen transport by shuttling oxygen from red
blood cells to the capillary wall.
ABOUT BIOPURE
Biopure Corporation is a privately held, biopharmaceutical company
focusing on the identification, ultrapurification and manufacturing of
proteins for veterinary and human pharmaceutical products. The company is
headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., and has three state-of-the-art
manufacturing facilities totaling 80,000 square feet. Biopure Corporation
can also be found on the World Wide Web at biopure.com.
Any thoughts on how this may affect SMTG?
-- RCM |
