Evolution of a Texas Biomedical Company
PR News Wire ~ April 23, 1998 ~ 5:31 am EST
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- What do you got
when you cross a world renowned cancer center, a group of venture
capitalists and people with an entrepreneurial spirit? You got a new industry
for Texas and a lot of success stories. The evolution of Aronex
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is one such story.
"In the early 1980s, when the Texas oil industry was at a high, a lot of wealth
was rerouted into tax-saving entities, like the Texas Medical Center located in
Houston, Texas," said Martin P. Sutter, General Partner of Essex Woodlands
Health Ventures, L.P. "With this financial aid, Texas soon began to recruit
some of the nation's top young scientists, who were anxious to partake of the
newly endowed fellowships. This creative effort was the beginning of Texas'
entry into biotechnology."
One of these medical institutions is the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson
Cancer Center. In the late 1980s, an M.D. Anderson practicing physician in
the immunobiology and drug carriers section began research on a promising
compound designed to address an unmet therapeutic need in cancer patients,
life threatening systemic fungal infections.
Out of the efforts at M.D. Anderson, NYOTRAN(TM), a novel liposomal
formulation of nystatin, was developed for system fungal infections. This
science was out-licensed by M.D. Anderson and helped to form Aronex
Pharmuceuticals, Inc. This new company has evolved NYOTRAN into a
therapeutic product now approaching commercializaton. The relationship
between M.D. Anderson and Aronex Pharmacuticals has expanded over the
evolution of the Company and currently encompasses three additional
licensed products.
"From its inception in 1986, Aronex Pharmaceticals has grown to a staff of
85 employees, with four products in clinical trials, two of which are close to
commercialization," said Geoffrey F. Cox, Chairman and Chief Exceutive
Officer of Aronex Pharmaceuticals. "Over the years, the Company has been
very creative in the funding of its product development, using a combination
of public and private offerings, mergers and acquisitions, as well as
government grants. We anticipate filing the Company's first new drug
application in the near term. The accomplishment of this milestone will be a
crucial step in the evolution of our company from being a development-stage
to a commercial biopharmaceutical company," Dr. Cox added. SOURCE
Aronex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
/EDITORS' ADVISORY: Cox and Sutter available for interviews. Photos of
both are also available/
/CONTACT: Connie Stout of Aronex Pharmaceuticals, 281-367-1666 or
cstout@aronex-pharm.com/
05:16 EDT
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