WATERTOWN, MA (Aug. 31 2004) — Enanta Pharmaceuticals has announced that it has raised $20 million in new financing. The Company has also initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial in the United States for its community antibiotic candidate, EP-013420.
Participants in the financing included Shionogi & Co. LTD, as well as returning investors Techno Venture Management, Oxford Bioscience Partners, BioVentures Investors and Global Biomedical Partners. The funding will be used to advance EP-013420 in the clinic and to progress the company’s discovery-stage anti-infective programs.
First in its class, EP-013420 is a Bridged Bicyclic Ketolide (BBK) that was designed by Enanta to have optimal pharmacokinetics and to provide broad treatment against respiratory pathogens, including several multi-drug resistant strains for which traditional macrolides, penicillins, and fluoroquinolones are no longer effective. In this trial, EP-013420 will be evaluated for its pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability in healthy volunteers. In July 2004, Enanta exclusively licensed the Asia territory rights for EP-013420 to Shionogi & Co., LTD., of Osaka, Japan.
“This clinical trial marks an important milestone for Enanta as we have translated our chemistry and drug discovery expertise into a very important new clinical-stage product with blockbuster potential to satisfy a growing unmet medical need in the community setting,” said Jay Luly, Ph.D., President and CEO. “The ambitious pre-clinical product-profile we have achieved with EP-013420 will provide us the opportunity to pursue multiple indications and position this drug candidate as best-in-class.”
“There is a tremendous need for next generation antibiotics to overcome the growing threat of bacterial resistance in the treatment of community respiratory tract infections,” stated infectious disease specialist Robert C. Moellering, Jr., M.D., Herrman Blumgart Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Enanta Clinical Advisor.
“Enanta’s novel BBK antibiotics offer the promise of broader coverage against many of these resistant strains with the potential of improved safety and efficacy, and more convenient dosing,” said Yat Sun Or, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research and Development.
