Archimedes Pharma announces major fundraising of £65 million

Appoints new Chief Executive Officer to accelerate growth of transatlantic business

03-Mar-2010

Archimedes Pharma announced that it has raised £65 million (approx US$100 million) in new funding. The round was led by new investor Novo Growth Equity, the growth equity fund of Novo A/S, and included participation by major current investor, Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm. Archimedes also announced the appointment of a new President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey H. Buchalter, formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of US-based Enzon.

The funding round is the largest raised by a private European biopharma company in the last 15 years and is Novo Growth Equity’s first investment since it was established at the beginning of 2009. The funds will be used to establish Archimedes’ operations in the US and support the growth of the successful specialty pharma business in Europe. The funds will also be used to support the global commercial launch of PecFent*, Archimedes’ innovative, simple-to-use, fentanyl nasal spray for the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain. PecFent has been filed for approval in Europe and the US and is expected to be approved for commercial sale in both regions during 2010. PecFent is supported by an extensive phase III clinical development programme in which the product met all primary and secondary end-points. Crucially, the phase III studies demonstrated that PecFent showed onset of pain relief within five minutes of dosing, statistically significant improvements in pain relief versus immediate release morphine, together with high levels of patient acceptability and consistent effectiveness in use.

Jeffrey H. Buchalter has over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has held senior positions at a number of multinational pharmaceutical companies. He was most recently President and CEO of Enzon Pharmaceuticals, the US biopharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialisation of therapies for patients with cancer and other life-threatening conditions. Prior to this, he was CEO of ILEX Oncology, where he led the transformation from a drug development company to a high quality oncology franchise with established commercial operations. He has also held key positions at Pharmacia, Wyeth and Schering Plough.

The board of Archimedes will now include Simon Turton and Piyush Shukla of Warburg Pincus; Ulrik Spork and Göran Ando of Novo A/S; and Jeffrey H. Buchalter.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/114358/archimedes-pharma-announces-major-fundraising-of-65-million.html