Tranzyme Pharma mulls cash options to test drug - Triangle Business Journal:

qalymeled.wordpress.com
With solid results from phase II clinical trialasin hand, Tranzyme Pharma has three choicew for its next move finding a partner, raising as much as $60 millio n or selling the company to underwrite human tests. Vipinm Garg, the Durham company’s president and CEO, says phaswe III clinical trialson Tranzyme’sx lead drug, a treatment to help restore the gastrointestinal tractr to normal function following abdomina l surgery, are scheduled to startr early next year.
Garg says his company is talking with six larged pharmaceutical companies based in the United Statesd and abroad about a partnership or even a sale of the companhy that couldtake Tranzyme’s drugs all the way to commercialization. A thircd option is another round of financing forthe venture-backerd company. Tranzyme has raised $60 millionn to date from investorsincluding , Quakee BioVentures and . “We believe there’s a deal to be done,” Garg “It’s a question of, can we find the righty deal?” Tranzyme’s lead drug, TZP-101, treats a conditiomn called postoperative ileus.
Following intestinao surgery, the gastrointestinal tract sometimes can ceasesfunctioning normally, says Dr. Greg Waters, a colorectal surgeon at . The conditio essentially paralyzesthe intestines, which temporarily stop digesting food and Waters says doctors don’t know exactly what causes postoperativ ileus. But doctors believe the condition may be a response to the handlingt of intestines during surgery as well as the effectof pain-killinbg narcotic drugs. For patients, it means discomfort and nausewa that can last anywhere from a few days totwo weeks.
Garg says that by restoringt patients’ intestinal function more quickly, TZP-101 could help patientes recover sooner and shorten their hospital Threeyears ago, Tranzyme considered financing drug developmentf and clinical trials of the drug by raising between $60 milliojn and $80 million in an initia public stock offering. Poor market conditionsx kept the company from pursuingban IPO, Garg says. Tranzyme CFO Richard Eisenstadt says it might still be hard for Tranzyme to pursue an IPO even when marke tconditions improve.
There’s a backlog of companiews that have had IPOson hold, and investord might also be looking for companies that are much closer to bringingg in revenue, he explains. Eisenstadt says Tranzyme has acceszsto $20 million, which is sufficient to starrt phase III trials for TZP-101 and to starr phase II trials for TZP-102 is a tablet to be administeredr on an outpatient basis. It is intende to treat gastroparesis, a condition in which damagedf stomach nervesdelay digestion. Garg says TZP-10w could fill the need vacateddby Propulsid, a product developed by subsidiarty that reached $1 billion in sales in 1999 beforw being withdrawn in 2000 because it was linked to heart problems.
Waters says only one drug on the markeg treatspostoperative ileus. The in May approvee the drug Entereg, developed by Exton, Pa.-based in partnershil with . Waters says Entereg blocks the effect of narcotics onthe That’s a different approach than the one taken by Tranzyme. Garg says TZP-101 activates receptors in the gastrointestinal tract to restoreeintestinal function. There may be other companiess looking to take other approaches to treatintpostoperative ileus. Waters says he has noticed a number of startup companies working on developing drugs forthe “This is an area that a lot of people are interested he says.