FITCHBURG, Wisconsin — NanoMedex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has raised $500,000 to help it get regulatory approval to sell its first product — Microfol, a micro-emulsion formulation of a popular anesthesia used during surgery.
To administer a drug intravenously, the drug must first be dissolved in water, NanoMedex explains at its Web site. Using its nanotechnology formulation strategy, NanoMedex encapsulates active drugs into spheres so small that they allow the drugs to act as if they have dissolved in water.
Microfol is a formulation of propofol, a short-acting anesthesia and emergency-room sedative. The leading propofol formulation uses oil-based carriers like soybean oil to keep the drug suspended in a solution. The soybean oil and other carriers can cause severe discomfort and pain at the injection site, NanoMedex says. Microfol avoids using carriers with its nanotechnology formulation.
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NanoMedex plans to use its latest investment to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this summer, according to Kegonsa Partners, Wisconsin private equity limited partnership that led the investment round.
“Even as we develop our IND submission, our first priority, we have begun to develop three additional compounds for the company’s pipeline,” said NanoMedex CEO David Cooper in a March statement by Kegonsa. Cooper was unavailable for an interview on Tuesday.
NanoMedex was started in Delaware in 2002 by four doctor-scientists, a chemical engineer and an experienced venture investor, according to the company’s investor relations Web page. A Phase I grant from the National Institutes of Health through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program in 2003 led to a Phase II grant in 2005. Along with investor money, the second SBIR grant helped the company develop its regulatory approval pathway.
NanoMedex moved to Wisconsin in 2008 after receiving Qualified New Business Venture certification from that state’s Department of Commerce. Included in this certification were credits from Wisconsin’s Angel Investment Tax Credit Program that are “designed to encourage investment in small, high-technology businesses that have high growth potential,” according to the company’s Web site.