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By Tiffany Turner
Staff Writer
Four years after purchasing Esperion Therapeutics Inc., a company focused on the discovery and development of compounds for cardiovascular and metabolic disease, Pfizer Inc. is selling the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based firm to an entity funded by a group of investors.
As a result, Esperion, which had been operating as a separate research division under Pfizer, will become a privately held, independent enterprise, though the New York-based pharma giant will retain a financial interest.
"With that, Pfizer has the capability of having us build value from their equity position in it," Esperion CEO and President Roger Newton told BioWorld Today.
Pfizer was instrumental in helping Esperion develop its lead compound, a small-molecule dual inhibitor of fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis, in dyslipidemias. The compound originally was an Esperion compound that Pfizer decided not to take forward.
Newton said that the spinout will enable more focus on the compound. "Obviously, the criteria that Pfizer would use in taking a compound forward and the criteria that a small start-up like Esperion Therapeutics would use are very different," he said. In a release, he stated that "re-establishing Esperion as a privately held entity ensures that the programs we have obtained will continue to advance as potentially important therapeutics."
Newton sees intrinsic value in the compound. "It is an intellectual property that we are very interested in and feel that there may be some way we can take this forward to an investigative new drug, and eventually take it into Phase II to determine whether it's a compound that's safe and efficacious and one that we can take forward," he said.
Newton's faith in the compound was echoed by investors, who aided the company in securing $22.8 million in a Series A financing round following Pfizer's divestment. The tranche was co-led by Aisling Capital, Alta Partners and Domain Associates, with participation from Arboretum Ventures.
The funding will be used primarily to facilitate development of the lead compound, and to explore its use in other high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-related indications. But the company also will look to increase other potential product offerings.
"We will be having discussion with other parties to build the portfolio of biopharmaceuticals as well as small molecules," Newton said.
Newton said that HDL mimetics are just one type of product that Esperion will be examining. "Having small molecules that will beneficially affect lipoprotein profiles, both reducing the bad cholesterol, the LDL particles, and increasing the number of functional HDL particles, is something we feel is at its infancy. There are no agents on the market currently," he added.
Esperion's investors seemed optimistic about the company's success in uncharted territory. In a release, Alison de Bord, director at Alta Partners, said, "We believe that Esperion will establish itself as a leading player in the development of HDL therapies."
De Bord, along with Dov Goldstein of Aisling Capital and Nicole Vitullo of Domain Associates, joined Esperion's board in conjunction with the financing.
Newton said that he's familiar with many of the financiers. "I've known people in those groups for as long as I've been in the biotech industry," he said.
In terms of other personnel, the company anticipates having a small, but dedicated team. "We have a sweat equity team of about eight people, and we look in the near future to have 10 people," Newton said.
Esperion will continue to operate out of Ann Arbor, providing a boost to the Michigan economy, which suffered when Pfizer announced closing of its manufacturing plants in the state in January 2007.
"There's still talent in the area that potentially could be part of Esperion down the road," Newton said, noting that many former Pfizer employees have start-ups in the area "in a variety of disciplines that would be supportive of the pharmaceutical R&D process."
He also said that Esperion's success could serve as a model for other start-ups in the area.
"Being able to have financed a Series A is a strong impetus for other companies to continue to grow and work and move toward a similar situation, where they can have a multiyear financing and a milestone, tranche-driven financing that will help ensure the financial security of the company for a much longer time than just a year or a year and a half," Newton said.
Newton said that he personally is interested in continuing to advance the science to treat atherosclerosis and heart disease and that Esperion could be a profitable vehicle for finding such therapies. "I think my sweat equity team is very much committed to that, and we look forward to building value for all of our investors, including Pfizer, down the road," he said. | 
