San Diego, California, November 1st, 2011 – Torrey Pines Investment announced today that its US CRO, ChemDiv, Inc. has completed the previously-announced preclinical research program it undertook on behalf of Afraxis, Inc. As discussed in xconomy.com (26 Feb 2010) Afraxis and Torrey Pines Investment entered an innovative deal structure that employed lean R&D strategies and a co-financing framework between the partners to deliver rapid, low-cost research results while allowing Afraxis to continue operating in semi-virtual mode. Torrey Pines Investment earned a convertible note for Afraxis Series A stock in return for its investment and performance guarantees to Afraxis.
Afraxis’ small-molecule development candidates for Fragile X syndrome created in the work by ChemDiv Inc. will be further developed as part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Disease (TRND) Program.
Ronald Demuth, President of Torrey Pines Investment commented “We are pleased that, as fully expected, ChemDiv successfully leveraged its expertise in a broad spectrum of integrated R&D services in the Afraxis collaboration. We are equally pleased to welcome Afraxis to our portfolio of investee companies, as this organization has clearly demonstrated exceptional competence and experience in its efforts to mitigate the effects of Fragile X Syndrome and develop potential treatments for this genetic condition”.
About Torrey Pines Investment: Torrey Pines Investment is a specialty life-science investment company located in San Diego. Torrey Pines Investment actively scouts and seeks to invest in programs that promise to be first-in-class and/or best-in-class, with clearly defined development plans and commitment to virtual and lean R&D models leveraged by its embedded CRO network leading to flexible exit structures that optimize its risk-return profile.
About ChemDiv: ChemDiv (www.chemdiv.com) collaborates with pharmaceutical and biotech partners by enabling them to accelerate their R&D programs to higher value clinical inflection points. ChemDiv is a vertically and horizontally integrated discovery and development CRO headquartered in San Diego, CA, with rational drug design and medicinal chemistry in a broad range of therapeutic areas and target classes; world’s largest small molecule inventory; and serving the top tier of 20 Pharma and 100 Biotech companies in all major markets With a 20 years record of success in life science R&D and over 500 research associates across its global organization, ChemDiv has successfully prosecuted fully integrated programs from target to Proof of Concept (POC) and market registration.
