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September 6th, 2005
Biolex Therapeutics, a protein therapeutics company,
has raised $36 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round. Polaris Venture Partners led the round. Other
investors Biolex listed included Intersouth Partners, Quaker BioVentures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Mitsui
and Co. Venture Partners and Kitty Hawk Capital.
Biolex has under development a product named Locteron,
which is a controlled-release formula based on human alfa interferon. Locteron, expected to enter Phase 1 clinical trials
this year, is for the treatment of Hepatitis C patients.
Biolex presently has a strategic alliance with
Centocor to develop and manufacture Centocor’s proteins using the Biolex LEX System
AUGUST 10th, 2005
Novelos Therapeutics, Inc. (OTC BB: NVLT), a company
whose technology is based on oxidized glutathione for the treatment of cancer and hepatitis has announced the completion of
a private offering valued at $4,150,000. The company, which was founded to commercialize glutathione based compounds, has
developed two compounds, NOV-002 and NOV-205 for the treatment of cancer and hepatitis.
So far NOV-002 has been approved for use in the Russian
Federation. The company reports that compound, marketed under the name GLUTOXIM, has already been used by over 5,000 patients
– the drug is used for non-small cell lung cancer. According to Novelos the treatment has been effective, “When
used in combination with chemotherapy, NOV-002 increased the one-year survival rate from 17% to 63% in a Russian study, a
result that also represents an 80% improvement above the U.S. 35% current standard of care.” Currently the compound
has completed a United States based Phase ½ clinical trial. The company also indicated that NOV-002 is being developed for
the treatment of ovarian cancer that is not responsive to chemotherapy (refractory ovarian cancer).
The other compound, NOV-205 is for the treatment of chronic
hepatitis C. According to the company, “In Russian clinical studies, when used as mono-therapy for one month in hepatitis
B and for two months in hepatitis C, NOV-205 has been shown to greatly reduce or eliminate viral loads and to vastly improve
liver function relative to existing drugs on the market.”
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