Selexys Completes Equity Financing & Signs Major Agreement

Selexys Pharmaceuticals, Corp. recently announced it has successfully completed a $23-million Series A equity financing, led by MPM Capital. Additionally, Selexys entered into an agreement with Novartis Pharmaceuticals whereby Novartis has been granted an exclusive option to acquire Selexys and its lead asset, the anti-P-selectin antibody SelG1, following the successful completion of a Phase II clinical study in patients with sickle cell disease. Including up-front, acquisition, and milestone payments, the agreement with Novartis could reach up to $665 million.

The Series A financing includes a new major investor, MPM Capital. Concurrent with the investment, Selexys also announced the addition of Todd Foley, Managing Director of MPM Capital, to the Selexys Pharmaceuticals Board of Directors.

“Patients with sickle cell disease endure great suffering and frequent hospitalization due to painful vasoocclusive crises. Chronic blockade of P-selectin function with SelG1 may improve clinical outcomes and lower the associated cost of patient care,” said Dr. Scott Rollins, President and CEO of Selexys. “We are excited to welcome MPM and Novartis and look forward to a productive partnership.”

The combination of the Novartis agreement and the closing of the Series A financing will allow Selexys to advance the SelG1 program through a large Phase II clinical study in sickle cell patients and will also fund a second program at Selexys, an anti-PSGL-1 antibody, through a Phase I clinical study.

“Vasoocculsive crises represent a significant healthcare problem for sickle cell disease patients, and we were impressed by the early data for SelG1 and the quality of the Selexys team,” said Todd Foley, Managing Director of MPM Capital. “We are pleased to be a part of this successful financing structure, and I look forward to working closely with Selexys.”

SelG1 is an investigational humanized monoclonal antibody directed against P-selectin, a key member of the adhesion molecule family known as the selectins. In preclinical studies, inhibition of P-selectin has been shown to effectively prevent vasoocclusion by blocking critical cell-cell interactions that drive this process. Therapeutic blockade of P-selectin may therefore reduce or prevent vasoocclusive crises in patients with sickle cell disease.

“SelG1 is a first-in-class therapeutic approach for the treatment of vasoocclusive crisis in sickle cell disease,” said Dr. Russell Rother, Selexys Executive Vice-president and COO. “Results from the recently completed Phase I safety study indicate that SelG1 is safe and well tolerated in healthy human subjects, and we are now eager to investigate its safety and efficacy in the sickle cell disease patient population.”

The SelG1 program for sickle cell disease is supported by Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) fast-track award No. 5R44HL093893-02 and No. 2R44HL093893-03 through the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Selexys Pharmaceuticals, Corp., is a privately held biopharmaceutical company that is focused on development of therapeutics for the treatment of inflammation, thrombosis, and metastasis across a broad range of severe diseases. Selexys is also developing an antibody directed against PSGL-1 for the treatment of Crohn’s disease, multiple myeloma, and other inflammatory disorders. For more information, visit www.selexys.com.