Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals Raises $28 Million to Advance Cardiac Ischemia Imaging Pharmaceutical into Phase 3 Trials
Cambridge, MA, April 1, 2005 – Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said today it has raised $28 million in a Series C financing to advance its lead compound, BMIPP, into Phase 3 clinical trials for the diagnosis of acute cardiac ischemia and to accelerate the development of the company’s pipeline of molecular imaging pharmaceuticals and radiotherapeutics. New investors, including Siemens Venture Capital GmbH, Corp., Tudor Investment Corp., MedCap Management & Research LLC, and Emigrant Capital Corp. joined existing institutional and individual investors in the financing round. SG Cowen & Co. served as placement agent.
"BMIPP has great potential to be the first product to enable widespread imaging of acute cardiac ischemia in the emergency department setting, thereby enhancing the quality and cost effectiveness of cardiovascular disease management," said Andrew Jay, DMD, Head of the Medical Solutions Fund at Siemens Venture Capital GmbH. "Molecular Insight has made outstanding progress in advancing BMIPP’s development and building a pipeline of innovative imaging candidates and targeted radiotherapeutics. The company is well positioned to capitalize on the rapidly growing potential of molecular imaging by applying its proprietary technologies towards dramatically improving the diagnosis, treatment and management of disease." Dr. Jay is joining the Molecular Insight Board of Directors in connection with the financing.
"Molecular medicine will result in more individualized and more effective diagnosis and therapy," said Dr. Mohammad Naraghi, Senior Vice President of Business Development, Siemens Medical Solutions. "Our investment reflects Siemens’ overall commitment to transform the delivery of healthcare by developing trendsetting innovations that improve patient care while reducing costs."
BMIPP has just completed a Phase 2b trial to diagnose acute cardiac ischemia in patients entering emergency departments due to chest pain. Current diagnostic procedures lack sufficient power in the majority of patients to rule in acute coronary syndrome rapidly, thereby resulting in significant delays in necessary intervention. This same lack of diagnostic power results in 3-4 million unnecessary hospital admissions each year. These admissions lead to over $6 billion in needless healthcare expenditures. In addition, approximately 40,000 patients with heart attacks are sent home prematurely each year due to missed diagnoses.
David Barlow, Chairman and CEO of Molecular Insight commented, "The Series C financing, which was 50% oversubscribed by a stellar group of strategic and financial investors, is a very strong endorsement of our progress with BMIPP as well as our development and commercialization strategies. These funds allow us to move rapidly into a pivotal Phase 3 program with BMIPP for diagnosing acute ischemia, expand BMIPP’s clinical development for other significant indications, and advance our targeted radiotherapeutic into human studies for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors."
BMIPP, the company’s lead product candidate, is a molecular imaging pharmaceutical that enables the detection of cardiac ischemia based on changes in cardiac cell metabolism. While several published studies have demonstrated that imaging of acute chest pain patients admitted to the emergency room yields meaningful medical and economic benefits, its use is limited by the inherent constraints of current blood flow imaging agents. One constraint, for example, is that the efficacy of these agents is confined to a two hour window after the cessation of chest pain symptoms. BMIPP, in contrast, has demonstrated in clinical studies the ability to identify ischemia through sustained alterations in cardiac cell metabolism 30 hours after an ischemic event. This 30-hour window may enable the widespread adoption of imaging in the acute setting to improve cardiac disease management and contain healthcare costs.
In addition to acute cardiac ischemia, Molecular Insight is exploring the potential of BMIPP imaging for other indications, including coronary artery disease screening and acute heart failure.
Molecular Insight’s second lead product candidate, MIP-120T, is being developed for the treatment neuroendocrine tumors in children and adults. MIP-120T, which is undergoing late preclinical studies, is a targeted radiotherapeutic developed with Molecular Insight’s proprietary Ultratrace™ technology.
"Ultratrace enables the development of molecular targeting radiopharmaceuticals with the potential to improve safety and efficacy of targeted radiotherapy," said John W. Babich, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of Molecular Insight. "Administered in nanogram quantities, Ultratrace compounds are designed to increase the uptake of radiolabeled compound to the target tissue, such as tumors, while dramatically reducing the quantities of unlabeled drug in the patient’s system."
About Siemens Venture Capital:
Siemens Venture Capital (SVC) is the $600 million corporate venture organization for Siemens AG, (NYSE:SI) one of the largest global electronics and engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $91.5 billion in fiscal 2004. The goal of SVC is to identify and fund investments in emerging and innovative technologies that will enhance the core business scope of Siemens, particularly in Information and Communications, Automation and Control, Medical Solutions, Automotive Technology and Transportation Systems, Power, and Lighting.
With offices in Munich, San Jose (CA), Boston (MA) and through Siemens Israel, Ltd. in Herzliya near Tel Aviv, SVC has an active portfolio of more than 70 start-up companies and 30 venture capital funds, and plays a key role in the global network of innovation. More: www.siemensventurecapital.com
About Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals is developing and commercializing innovative molecular imaging pharmaceuticals and targeted radiotherapeutics to diagnose and treat disease. The company’s lead product candidate, BMIPP, has completed Phase 2 clinical development for use in triaging emergency room patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome, a situation that results in over six million emergency room visits annually in the United States. Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals also has a radiotherapeutic to treat neuroendocrine tumors in late preclinical development and molecular imaging programs in cardiology, neurology, and oncology. The company’s pipeline leverages proprietary technologies for targeting, visualizing, treating, and monitoring disease. The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company’s website is: www.molecularinsight.com.
Contact:
Priscilla Harlan
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(617) 492-5554