Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Epix to pull $50M from U.K.’s Kingsbridge over time

By Mass High Tech Staff

Epix Pharmaceuticals Inc. reports that it has entered into a $50 million financing agreement with Kingsbridge Capital Ltd.

Lexington-based Epix (Nasdaq: EPIX) reports that Kingsbridge, a London-based investment group, has committed to provide up to $50 million during the next three years through the purchase of newly issued shares of Epix common stock.

Under the agreement, the maximum number of shares that can be sold by Epix is about 8.3 million. Epix will determine the exact timing and amount of any financings, subject to certain conditions, company officials said.

Epix, which was founded in 1988 as Metacorp Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company focused on therapeutics through the use of a silico drug discovery platform.

The financing news comes one week after Epix revealed that Michael Kauffman resigned from his post as CEO. The resignation from Epix was effective July 25, company officials said.

Kauffman became CEO of Epix in August 2006 after the company acquired Predix Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., of which he had been chief executive since September 2002. Epix officials said he resigned to pursue other opportunities.

Epix posted mixed results during Kauffman’s tenure. The company endured delays in the U.S. approval of Vasovist, the company’s injectable intravascular agent for magnetic resonance angiography imaging. And in March, the firm pulled the plug on its mid-stage clinical trials for a depression drug.

Conversely, Epix has received multi-million dollar milestone payments from partner GlaxoSmithKline PLC due to progress in Epix’ development of drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and other central nervous system disorders. It also garnered an expansion deal with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation worth up to $37.5 million in April to advance treatments for CF.

The company has tapped company director Elkan Gamzu to serve as its interim chief executive. Prior to Epix, Gamzu had been serving as a consultant in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

During 2007, Epix reported a net loss of $62.8 million on revenue of $14.96 million.