Michigan’s Esperion Therapeutics raises $5M for cardiovascular disease drug

PLYMOUTH, Michigan — Esperion Therapeutics, a spin-off from Pfizer Inc., has raised an additional $5 million to develop drugs that treat cardiovascular and metabolic disease, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The regulatory document states that Esperion has raised $27.75 million in equity and debt, but that dollar figure likely includes a $22.75 million Series A fundraise the company announced in 2008 after the spin-off.

Esperion said in the document that it’s looking to raise $38.25 million. It’s unclear what the company’s plans are for a Series B round. An Esperion spokesman didn’t comment.

The company’s flagship drug, ETC-1002, is designed to treat dyslipidemia, a disorder in which too many fatty substances are present in a patient’s blood. In November, Esperion launched a Phase 1 clinical trial of the drug. The drug works by lowering a patient’s so-called “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins) and raising levels of “good” cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins).

The Series A round was co-led by New York-based Aisling Capital, California-based Alta Partners and New Jersey-based Domain Associates, and included participation by Michigan-based Arboretum Ventures. Pfizer also retained a financial stake in Esperion.

Esperion Chief Executive Dr. Roger Newton co-founded the company in 1998, took it public, then sold it in 2004 to Pfizer for $1.3 billion. He restarted Esperion after Pfizer shuttered it in 2007 as the giant pharmaceuticals company restructured much of its research and development operations. Newton’s renowned as a pioneer of popular cholesterol drug Lipitor, which Forbes in 2008 called “the best-selling drug ever.”