Boston-based Intarcia Therapeutics Inc. has acquired Phoundry Pharmaceuticals Inc., founded this year after six years of work as part of GlaxoSmithKline’s enteroendocrine discovery performance unit. Financial details were not disclosed. Both companies work with peptide therapies, with Intarcia focusing on obesity and diabetes.
Kurt Graves, chair, president and CEO of Intarcia says both companies share a common vision that combination therapies of optimized peptides have the potential to mimic and extend the metabolic benefits and weight loss potential associated with bariatric surgery.”
The therapies would be delivered via Intarcia’s mini-pumps once or twice yearly.
Graves said Intarcia will “leave everyone on the team in NC in place and expand it as it grows here.” Headcount is expected to double in 12-18 months. CEO Paul Feldman becomes a member of Intarcia’s executive leadership team, serving as vice president of discovery and translational medicine.
“This deal was done because4 the Phoundry has a world class peptide discovery engine and our company has a unique delivery system for peptides,” he tells WRAL TechWire.
While Phoundry has a track record of discovering marketed drugs, it didn’t have a delivery system, he notes. “Our system stabilized them,” he adds. The company’s mini-pumps “Allow you to deliver once a medicine for auto immune disorders, obesity, or diabetes via a matchbook-sized device.
The Phoundry team has over 120 years of combined experience in peptide drug discovery important to Intarcia’s target markets.
Feldman, CEO and co-founder of Phoundry Pharmaceuticals, said in a statement, “We’ve long held the belief that Intarcia’s continuous, zero order delivery platform is the ideal method for peptide administration. Combining our highly potent, selective and stable peptides with Intarcia’s ability to dial in the optimal dose for maximum efficacy, while eliminating regular self-injections with once or twice yearly administration, should set the stage for a number of novel, transformative medicines that can fundamentally change the standard of care and dramatically improve adherence with therapy over time.”
Graves said Intarcia is taking on “Big problems, and we hope to have disruptive and innovative medicines.” One for Type II diabetes is near being filed for approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations and in Europe next year.
The company has a number of additional research and development pipeline projects with potential in other serious chronic diseases.
On the web: www.intarcia.com
