Recently formed EUSA Pharma Inc. brought in $175 million in private financing, which will fund its acquisition of French biotech OPi SA and support further growth as a transatlantic specialty pharma focused on the oncology, pain and critical care markets.

EUSA, so named to reflect its aim to serve markets across Europe and the U.S., was founded in May 2006 by Bryan Morton, a veteran of big pharma firms Merck & Co. Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., who went on to create Zeneus Pharma Ltd., an oncology drug company that was acquired in late 2005 by Frazer, Pa.-based Cephalon Inc. for $360 million.

After that deal closed, Morton decided to "have a go at something new," and began laying the groundwork for EUSA, with a mission to "create a balanced business in Europe and the U.S."

The company's initial funding came from Essex Woodlands, which provided about $20 million through the end of July 2006. Much of that was used to cover the costs of EUSA's first acquisition target, UK-based Talisker Pharmaceuticals Ltd. In that deal, EUSA gained rights to Rapydan, an anesthetic patch expected to hit the market in Sweden shortly. Rapydan is marketed in the U.S. by Chadds Ford, Pa.-based Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. under the brand Synera.

The Talisker acquisition also provided EUSA with two early stage drugs aimed at schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, though Morton said the company intends to out-license those compounds since central nervous system disorders fall outside its focus.

With the OPi deal, which EUSA pursued "against fierce competition," Morton told BioWorld Today, the company gains additional marketed products, including Erwinase (crisantaspase) and Kidrolase (L-asparaginase), both of which are approved for acute lymphocytic leukemia. OPi also sells critical care products Fomepizole OPi for ethylene-glycol poisoning and Xenazine for movement disorders associated with Huntington's disease and hemiballism. The company recorded product sales of $23 million for 2006.

OPi "just fit right onto what we're doing," Morton said. He could not disclose specific financial terms of the transaction, but said EUSA is acquiring 100 percent of OPi's shares in exchange for cash. The deal is expected to close later this month.

EUSA also picks up OPi's development pipeline, which includes Leukotak, an anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody in Phase II development as a second-line treatment of acute graft-vs.-host disease, and Nelsyn, an orphan drug candidate for Lambert-Eaton syndrome, a condition that affects a subset of multiple sclerosis patients. Beyond that, OPi has a preclinical anti-IL-6 antibody aimed at inflammatory disease and "an interesting library of antibodies," Morton said.

OPi is based in Lyon, France, with additional operations in Germany and the UK. EUSA intends to "keep those open and expand into other areas," he said, adding that OPi's 75 employees will be integrated into the newly combined company and will "complement our efforts" to substantially expand staff in sales, marketing, administrative and other areas.

Right now, most of EUSA's activities are based in Oxford, UK, though the company has an office in King of Prussia, Pa. Morton said one of his goals is to acquire a "going concern specialty pharma business in the U.S. as our base" there.

Funds from the financing remaining after the OPi purchase could take the company three or four years, absent any further acquisitions. But, "our hope is to do additional deals," he said. "We're looking at products on the market or in late stage [development] and at additional M&A opportunities.

"In the event that we do come across worthwhile assets and opportunities," he added, "we have a further line of funding available" from the recent financing syndicate.

Existing investor Essex Woodland, along with London-based 3i, led the financing, with participation from Goldman Sachs, Advent Venture Partners, NeoMed and NovaQuest.