TransOral Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing a proprietary drug delivery technology to improve the bioavailability of existing major market pharmaceuticals and speed their onset of action. Today TransOral announced the completion of its Series B financing in the amount of $7.5 million. The investor syndicate was led by Montreux Equity Partners, and included investments by Hamilton Apex Technology Ventures, BioAsia Investments, and Peninsula Equity Partners.
Glenn A. Oclassen, President and CEO, stated, \"We are very pleased to be working with an investor group that is broadly experienced in creating and growing new biopharmaceutical ventures. We have worked closely with the Montreux team in the past, and we welcome the new relationships we are building with Hamilton Apex, BioAsia and Peninsula.\"
The Series B funds will be used to develop fast acting dosage forms of major market drug products. Early data indicates that the TransOral technology may be able to produce therapeutic blood levels of such drugs as rapidly as those generated by a subcutaneous injection, and much faster than existing oral tablet formulations. The aggregate market for drugs targeted by TransOral exceeds $6 billion in the U.S. alone.
The TransOral drug delivery system is based on proprietary technology created by Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Nik Singh, Ph.D. Dr. Singh and his team have filed U.S. patents on the enhanced delivery of several drugs, and additional U.S. and international patents will be filed in the near future. Dr. Singh stated, \"The recent studies we have conducted have increased our confidence that we can speed the bioavailability of a wide range of frequently prescribed drugs and produce a beneficial effect in 10 to 15 minutes, rather than the hour or more typical of most oral dosage forms.\"
The TransOral strategy will focus on speeding the onset of effect of major market drugs that have been previously approved in other sub-optimal delivery systems. The company will develop certain specialty market drugs on its own behalf and market them with a specialty sales force, once approved by the FDA. Other drug opportunities will be licensed to corporate partners once the company has generated compelling data demonstrating their rapid bioavailability advantages.
The TransOral top management team includes Mr. Oclassen, Dr. Singh and Thomas Soloway. Dr. Singh and Mr. Oclassen have had significant records of success in the creation of new pharmaceutical products and companies. In 1985, Mr. Oclassen became the founder and CEO of Oclassen Pharmaceuticals, a dermatology drug development and marketing company that was acquired by Watson Pharmaceuticals in 1997. Dr. Singh was a key drug development scientist at Procter & Gamble, G. D. Searle, and Watson Pharmaceuticals, where he was a leader in the development of a wide range of drug products. Mr. Soloway spent nine years with Montreux Equity Partners and has a broad experience base in financing and building early stage companies.
Contact: TransOral Pharmaceuticals Thomas Soloway, 415-699-9924 tsoloway@transoral.com