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Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario– January 30, 2007 – Osprey Pharmaceuticals Limited, a privately held biotechnology company focused on treating chronic diseases through a family of first-in-class therapeutic proteins, announced today that it has secured US $9.0 million (CA $10.5 million) in financing, including US $6.0 million (CA $7.0 million) in tranched convertible debt from existing investors and $3.0 million (CA $3.5 million) in venture debt from MMV Capital an arm of MMV Financial.

 

Osprey will use the proceeds from the financing to complete preclinical development work and fund early clinical trials of its lead product candidate, OPL-CCL2-LPM, for patients with chronic kidney disease.  OPL-CCL2-LPM is a Leukocyte Population Modulator (LPM), one of 12 chemokine-based proprietary proteins developed by Osprey to selectively and systematically destroy disease-related leukocytes.  The company plans to begin clinical trials of OPL-CCL2-LPM in the third quarter of 2007.

 

"Osprey has built an innovative technology platform for the development of drugs against a wide array of clinically important applications, including chronic kidney disease, multiple sclerosis and cancer," said Jacques Perreault, Senior Vice President, MMV Financial Inc. “We at MMV are excited about working with the company and our investment partners to build Osprey as a leading and innovative biotechnology company."

 

“This financing enables Osprey to enter the clinic with its lead compound this year, and to begin moving our portfolio of 12 preclinical candidates through the pipeline,” said Phil Coggins, PhD., Chief Executive Officer and President of Osprey.  “Support from prominent investors such as MMV is a great validation of our firm’s technology and business model, and we are extremely pleased to have added MMV to our high caliber group of backers.”

 

The convertible debt placement was led by GeneChem Therapeutics Venture Fund and included Series A shareholders Desjardins Capital Régional et Coopératif, BDC Venture Capital and Western Technology Seed Investment Fund.

 

 About Osprey Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

 

Osprey Pharmaceuticals Limited is a privately held biotechnology company focused on commercializing a unique family of therapeutic proteins capable of treating chronic diseases.  Osprey’s broad technology platform is based on the critical insight that many common diseases are propagated by overabundant and overactive leukocytes.  The company’s patented Leukocyte Population Modulators selectively and systematically destroy these disease-related leukocytes by infiltrating the chemokine system – a complex network of small proteins and their receptors that regulate the movement and activity of leukocytes.  The company expects to initiate a Phase I/II trial for chronic kidney disease in the second half of 2007. 

 

Osprey has developed a portfolio of 12 preclinical product candidates addressing a variety of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurological disorders, and the company anticipates initiating at least one clinical trial annually over the next three years.  Osprey minimizes the risks inherent to drug development and commercialization by using a technology that can rapidly generate new product candidates, and then uniformly applying standardized testing and manufacturing protocols across its portfolio. Osprey Pharmaceuticals is based in Montreal, Canada and can be found online at www.ospreypharma.com.

 

About MMV Financial

 

MMV Financial is a Toronto-based specialty finance company providing creative debt solutions directly to technology and life sciences companies across North America. MMV is backed by top U.S. and Canadian private equity firms and financial institutions including CCP Equity Partners, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, NewStar Financial Inc., and Wells Fargo Company.  For more information please visit www.mmvf.com.

 

Osprey Pharma Contacts:

 

Phil Coggins, PhD

President & CEO

coggins@ospreypharma.com

 

Robert Wagstaff

Vice President, Finance

wagstaff@ospreypharma.com

Tel: 514-336-3118

 

Or Susan Thomas or John Cummings from Burms McClellan on behalf of Osprey

jcummings@burnsmc.com

sthomas@burnsmc.com

 

MMV Financial Contact:

 

Jacques Perreault

Senior Vice President

Tel: 154-789-6425

Fax: 514-396-4354

jperreault@mmvf.com

 

Posted in: Life Sciences




 
     
 
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