Afferon: A bankroll against urge incontinence

Afferon Corp. is developing vanilloid compounds with a focus on urology. The company believes that its lead product, resiniferatoxin (RTX), has advantages over marketed treatments for urge incontinence in both side effect profile and compliance issues. And with plans this week to announce a deal with Mundipharma in the U.K. that could be worth up to $100 million, Afferon said it has the necessary funding to get to market without having to "venture" to the Street.

CEO Terry Winters, who is also a partner at Columbine Venture Funds, said the company's founders were working on vanilloid compounds when they discovered that the NIH had research and patents that dominated the area. "Instead of throwing in the towel, they decided to exclusively license these patents covering RTX and other vanilloids," said Winters. "It's a nice toolbox of toys."...