News
NewSpring Capital Announces a Follow-on Investment in a $50mm Equity Financing for EKR Therapeutics, Inc.
RADNOR, PA, March 17, 2008 – NewSpring Capital, of Radnor, PA and Short Hills, NJ, announced today that it participated in a $50 million Series D Preferred Stock financing in EKR Therapeutics, Inc., through its affiliate funds NewSpring Ventures and Commerce Health Ventures. NewSpring Capital, which is the original institutional investor in EKR and led the Company’s Series B Preferred Stock financing, is pleased to have the opportunity to continue to support EKR's business strategy by participating in the subsequent Series C and Series D rounds of financing which were both completed at step-up valuations. The round was led by new investors MPM Capital and LLR Partners, and included prior investors Quaker BioVentures, the Garden State life Sciences Ventures Fund, and ESP Equity Partners. EKR also secured $95 million in senior debt from GE Healthcare Financial Services. EKR Therapeutics, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, commercializing and maximizing the potential of proprietary acute-care products.
A portion of the financing proceeds will be utilized to pursue acquisition candidates for EKR’s portfolio of specialty acute-care products. That portfolio was recently enlarged by the first quarter 2008 acquisitions of the Cardene® franchise, including intravenous and oral formulations of this antihypertensive product, and Retavase®, a drug for the management of acute myocardial infarction. Other product offerings from EKR include DepoDur®, an injectable morphine acquired in August 2007 for the management of post operative pain, and Gelclair®, a bioadherent oral gel acquired in June 2006 for the treatment of oral mucositis.
Mr. Scherl of NewSpring Capital and EKR Director said, “This financing permits EKR to expand its 2008 revenue base by a factor of about ten, and also gives EKR the capability to execute additional product acquisitions to leverage the strengths of the management team and acute-care specialty sales force.” Moreover, according to Mr. Scherl, “This capital represents a strong vote of confidence in EKR’s management team and business plan.”
Howard Weisman, EKR's chairman and CEO commented, “Since initiating operations less than two years ago, we have built a solid commercial organization with several on-the-market products and our own sales force. We are well positioned to enter the next stage of growth and to realize our goal of becoming the pre-eminent provider of specialty acute-care products.” He said, “Through the application of our acquisition strategy, we have greatly enriched our product mix in the past few months and, correspondingly, our revenue base and profitability.” For additional information about EKR visit the Company’s website at www.ekrtx.com.
