PHARMACEUTICALS
Sopharmia Inc / Gladius Pharmaceuticals
VISION AND SHARED VISION
In the tradition of great American entrepreneurs Dr. Sutton - an organic chemist and pathologist - developed Smart Antibiotics in his garage-laboratory in Iowa, with neither federal or university support. We co-founded Sopharmia, invested and raised $1.8 million in seed financing.
Smart Antibiotics have a novel mechanism of antibiotic activity designed to kill resistant strains of gram-negative bacteria. Proof-of-concept was a single reagent-based study (in-vitro). We believed strongly in the thoughtful design of a transcendent scientist and his problem-solving capabilities over the computer-based number-crunching approach to developing new pharmaceuticals.
Sopharmia’s dual-action antibiotics kill bacteria in the normal fashion, but counter-attack if the bacteria has a beta-lactamase enzyme. The beta-lactamase enzyme is the primary method of defense by resistant gram-negative bacteria. The class of beta-lactamase inhibitors (such as Augmentin and zosyn), had obtained peak annual sales of $5 Billion. However, bacteria are evolving to avoid this mechanism of action.
We nurtured Sopharmia from its founding in 2007, eventually sourcing a mid-size pharmaceutical company acquisition offer for Sopharmia. Further, our efforts were salutary in closing the 2015 financing of Sopharmia by Lumira (Merck-related VC Fund) and SROne (Glaxo-related VC Fund). Gladius Pharmaceuticals is the successor company to Sopharmia.
BetaGene:
BetaGene developed genetically engineered cells that secrete insulin in response to glucose.
VISION AND SHARED VISION
In the tradition of great American entrepreneurs Dr. Sutton - an organic chemist and pathologist - developed Smart Antibiotics in his garage-laboratory in Iowa, with neither federal or university support. We co-founded Sopharmia, invested and raised $1.8 million in seed financing.
Smart Antibiotics have a novel mechanism of antibiotic activity designed to kill resistant strains of gram-negative bacteria. Proof-of-concept was a single reagent-based study (in-vitro). We believed strongly in the thoughtful design of a transcendent scientist and his problem-solving capabilities over the computer-based number-crunching approach to developing new pharmaceuticals.
Sopharmia’s dual-action antibiotics kill bacteria in the normal fashion, but counter-attack if the bacteria has a beta-lactamase enzyme. The beta-lactamase enzyme is the primary method of defense by resistant gram-negative bacteria. The class of beta-lactamase inhibitors (such as Augmentin and zosyn), had obtained peak annual sales of $5 Billion. However, bacteria are evolving to avoid this mechanism of action.
We nurtured Sopharmia from its founding in 2007, eventually sourcing a mid-size pharmaceutical company acquisition offer for Sopharmia. Further, our efforts were salutary in closing the 2015 financing of Sopharmia by Lumira (Merck-related VC Fund) and SROne (Glaxo-related VC Fund). Gladius Pharmaceuticals is the successor company to Sopharmia.
BetaGene:
BetaGene developed genetically engineered cells that secrete insulin in response to glucose.
Potential applications include treatment of Type 1 diabetes.
BetaGene was formed to develop and commercialize the scientific work Dr. Christopher B. Newgard of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. As co-founder of BetaGene, I negotiated an exclusive world-wide license for intellectual property developed at UT Southwestern, and a $10 million direct R&D funding program with W.L. Gore. In parallel, Gore invested an estimated $25 million in developing their own biocompatible immune-isolation chamber designed to house BetaGene’s genetically engineered “Beta” cells.