PharmaTelevision - Polytherics close series C funding: John Burt discusses the funding environment leading up to their latest round

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Video title: Polytherics close series C funding: John Burt discusses the funding environment leading up to their latest round

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In this episode of PharmaTelevision News Review, Fintan Walton talks to John Burt, CEO of PolyTherics.

Full video transcripts are available with PharmaTelevision Premium Content. Click here to buy a subscription or sign up for a 14 day free trial.

PolyTherics's technology platform and Interferon beta program

Fintan Walton:

Hello and welcome to PharmaTelevision News Review here at BIO-Europe, in Duesseldorf, Germany in 2011. On this show I have John Burt, who is CEO of a company called PolyTherics which is a UK based company a private company, welcome.

John Burt:

Thank you very much Fintan, great to be here.

Fintan Walton:

It's good to have you and talk about PolyTherics which is a company you've taken over as CEO in the last year or so?

John Burt:

Last year right, yes.

Fintan Walton:

Could you just tell us or remind our audience what PolyTherics is about?

Full video transcripts are available with PharmaTelevision Premium Content. Click here to buy a subscription or sign up for a 14 day free trial.

Fintan Walton

Dr Fintan Walton is the Founder and CEO of PharmaVentures . After completing his doctoral research on the genetics of cell proliferation at the University of Michigan(US)and Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), Dr Walton gained broad commercial experience in biotechnology in management positions at Bass and Celltech plc (1982-1992).

John Burt

CEO

At the time of recording this PTV interview John Burt works as CEO of PolyTherics. John joined PolyTherics in November 2010 and brings broad business and corporate development experience to the Company. Prior to joining PolyTherics he co-founded Thiakis, with Professor Steve Bloom (Imperial College), which he led as CEO through a major financing round in 2006 and ultimately to a very successful sale to Wyeth in 2008. John has previously led medical and life sciences technology transfer for Imperial Innovations and at GSK served in a range of strategy, business and corporate development roles. His early experience in the biotech industry came through the R&D finance role with Vanguard Medica, now Vernalis. John was a board member of Sterix, a joint Imperial College- University of Bath spin-out company which was acquired by Ipsen in 2004, and has been an active advisor to early-stage biotech and life sciences companies on strategy, business development and finance issues.

PharmaVentures

PharmaVentures is a corporate finance and transactions advisory firm that has served hundreds of clients worldwide in relation to their strategic deal making in the pharmaceutical, life science and healthcare sectors. Our key offerings include: Transactions / deal negotiations; Product / technology valuations; Deal term advice; Due diligence & expert reports; Strategy formulation; Alliance management; and Expert opinion for litigation/arbitration cases. PharmaVentures provides the global expertise to ensure our clients generate the highest possible return on investment from all their deal making activities. We have experience of all therapeutic areas and can offer advice on both product and technology commercialisation.

PolyTherics

PolyTherics is a biotechnology company that applies precision chemistry to develop protein and peptide based drugs. These two classes of drugs are administrated to patients by injection and are generally cleared from the body very quickly. This rapid clearance can reduce the efficacy of the drug and increase the frequency that injections have to be administrated to patient. Our precision chemistry technologies can extend the duration of action of these classes of drugs so patients require fewer injections, and can create more efficacious products. This reduces the cost of treatment and improves patient compliance. The Company has three proprietary precision chemistry technologies for attaching one or more molecules of the polymer poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) to any therapeutic peptide or protein to slow its elimination from the body. PEGylation is an established method for improving medicines and nine PEGylated products are already approved for use in either the US and/or EU. PolyTherics' methods of PEGylation add PEG to a specific site on proteins and peptides producing a more homogeneous product than traditional PEGylation technologies. The market for therapeutic proteins is expected to grow to $160.1 Bn by 2013. PolyTherics has positioned its business to work in partnership with biopharmaceutical companies to produce better products to capitalize on this enormous market opportunity. The Company believes in collaboration to access therapeuticproteins and peptides, and complementary expertise, and pursues opportunities to expand its exploratory research under grant-funded initiatives.