Date: 2015-09-24
Type of information: Company acquisition
Acquired company: Phoundry Pharmaceuticals (USA - NC)
Acquiring company: Intarcia Therapeutics (USA - MA)
Amount: undisclosed
Terms: * On September 24, 2015, Intarcia Therapeutics announced the acquisition of Phoundry Pharmaceuticals
Phoundry enhances Intarcia’s internal efforts to build upon the differentiated clinical success of its Phase 3 investigational therapy, ITCA 650, the first injection-free GLP-1 therapy with the potential to deliver up to a full year of treatment from a single placement. As a result of the Phoundry acquisition and the separate Numab collaboration formed earlier this year, Intarcia will now have expanding intellectual property rights and three distinct near-term R&D programs targeting diabetes and obesity, including:
ITCA 650 + Optimized Peptide 1 targeting Type 2 Diabetes and/or Obesity
ITCA 650 + Optimized Peptide 2 targeting Type 2 Diabetes and/or Obesity
ITCA 650 + Single Chain Antibody Fragment targeting Type 2 Diabetes and/or Obesity
Intarcia will fund the acquisition via a combination of cash and stock. The parties agreed not to disclose the specific financial terms of the transaction. Intarcia will retain all Phoundry employees as well as presence in Research Triangle Park, NC, and expects to double head count within 12-18 months. Paul Feldman, CEO and co-founder of Phoundry Pharmaceuticals, will become a member of Intarcia’s executive leadership team, serving as VP, Head of Discovery and Translational Medicine, while Andrew Young will become VP, Chief Scientific Officer and Ved Srivastava will assume the role of VP, Peptide Chemistry. In addition to the near-term priority focus on Diabetes and Obesity, both the Phoundry acquisition and the Numab collaboration formed earlier this year have additional R&D pipeline projects with potential in other serious chronic diseases.
Details: Phoundry Pharmaceuticals has been founded in 2015 after six years of work as part of the Enteroendocrine Discovery Performance Unit of GSK. The company has created a portfolio of optimized peptides in various therapeutic categories, most notably diabetes and obesity. It was co-founded by six scientists from GSK’s Enteroendocrine Discovery Performance Unit, Paul Feldman (CEO), Andrew Young (CSO), Ved Srivastava, Mark Paulik, James Way and Shane Roller, and A. M. Pappas & Associates. The scientific founders' track record includes eight drug products, including exenatide, pramlintide and three other peptide therapeutics, as well as over two dozen Phase 2 clinical-stage assets. The Company’s operations, including its laboratory-based activity, are at the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park.
Related: Metabolic diseases
