Furiex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:FURX) has secured $15 million to finance R&D for three compounds in its drug pipeline.
The Morrisville, North Carolina drug development company has entered into a loan agreement with MidCap Financial and Silicon Valley Bank (NASDAQ:SIVB). Furiex has already received the first tranche, $10 million. The second tranche of $5 million will only become available if a “pre-defined Furiex financing event occurs.” No additional details on that financing event were disclosed.
Furiex was spun off of clinical research organization PPD (NYSE:PPDI) in 2010. As the compound partnering division of PPD, the unit developed the drug candidates discovered by PPD’s pharmaceutical partners. Furiex will direct the $15 million loan to the following three compounds, all of which are licensed from or are being developed with a partner:
JNJ-Q2. Furiex licensed this antibiotic compound from Janssen Pharmaceutica in April. JNJ-Q2 is being developed to address antibiotic-resistant strains such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. JNJ-Q2 has completed phase 2 studies and the company has said it is exploring partnerships to take the compound into phase 3 clinical trials.
MuDelta. This compound is being developed to treat diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Furiex has a development and license agreement with Janssen, which gives Janssen the right to continue development and commercialization of MuDelta after Furiex completes phase 2 clinical trials. MuDelta is still in phase 2 studies.
PPD10558. Furiex licensed PPD10558, a cholesterol-lowering statin drug candidate, from Ranbaxy Laboratories. Furiex is studying the compound as a safer statin with fewer side effects. Other statins can be toxic to muscles throughout the body. Furiex has said that PPD10558 offers targeted delivery to the liver, minimizing muscle-related side effects. The compound is currently in phase 2 studies.
