Name of Company: Access Pharmaceuticals (ACCP)
Industry: Biopharmaceuticals
City, State: Dallas, Texas
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Solution/Product: Access makes cancer and cancer support products. Its first product, MuGard, is an FDA-approved oral rinse designed to form a hydrogel coating in the mouth to protect against oral mucositis, a frequent side-effect of chemotherapy marked by pain and inflammation of the tissues that line the mouth.
Access is also developing a DACH platinum prodrug treatment for cancer (the same class as Sanofi-Aventis’ Eloxatin) called ProLindac, which is intended to deliver more drug to the tumor and less to normal tissue. It’s completed phase 2 trials in ovarian cancer patients in Europe. Another cancer drug, Thiarabine, is in phase 2 trials for treatment of lymphoma and leukemia.
Money Raised: $10 million – $4.7 million in new investments and $5.3 million in outstanding dividends payable, the company said.
How will it be used: The financing will allow the company to repay overdue debt and continue commercialization efforts for MuGuard, CEO Jeffrey Davis said in a statement.
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Investors: Unknown.
Management team: With a background in investment banking and corporate development, CEO Davis was formerly president of SCO Financial Group LLC. SVP of Research and Development David Nowotnik held leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Guilford Pharmaceuticals.
Market opportunity: The NCI estimates that about 400,000 patients in the U.S. get a mucositis diagnosis. Current methods of preventing and addressing the condition utilize dental hygiene, rinses, coating agents, lubricating agents and topical anesthetics made by companies including Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Camurus AB. Several new treatments are also in clinical trials now.
