Tigercat, Velocity Pharmaceutical Development, Velocity Pharmaceutical Holdings LLC deal
Velocity Pharmaceutical Development and life science VC firm Remeditex Ventures partnered to jointly evaluate late-stage preclinical and clinical assets from pharma, biotech and academia. Velocity Pharmaceutical Holdings - a holding company funded by CMEA Capital - and Remeditex will co-invest to help advance assets through Phase II proof of concept, after which programs will be out-licensed. Both Velocity Pharmaceutical Development and Remeditex can present opportunities for investment, and each partner can decide which projects to fund. If Velocity Pharmaceutical Holdings invests, each asset or project will be housed in a virtual company managed by Velocity Pharmaceutical Development. The amount the firms plan to co-invest is "open-ended."
Velocity Pharmaceutical Holdings and Remeditex also announced their first co-investment. Remeditex invested an undisclosed amount in Tigercat, which Velocity created to develop serlopitant ( VPD-737) for chronic pruritus. Tigercat plans to start Phase II testing this month. The virtual company is managed by Velocity Pharmaceutical Development and has exclusive, worldwide rights to the neurokinin-1 (NK-1; Substance P) receptor antagonist from Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK, Whitehouse Station, N.J.) under a 2012 deal. Velocity Pharmaceutical Development declined to disclose details of the Merck deal. ...