Hepregen Corporation, a life sciences start-up focused on helping drug companies improve drug safety, is launching its first product.
The Medford, Mass.-based company, which launched in 2008 with a first venture capital round of $5 million, is launching a technology platform that mimics the human liver to help drug makers test potential therapies for liver toxicity. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies routinely reject drug applications due to liver toxicity concerns.
Hepregen’s HepatoPac products will be available through its services model initially, and then later this year through direct product sales.
The technology platform is already in use by several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, Hepregen executives said, including German drug company Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Hepregen has partnerships with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ALNY) and Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY).
Asked about the life sciences company’s quick path to commercialization, CEO Bonnie Fendrock said, “We’ve been very focused on working with our customers to identify the value proposition of the product.” Fendrock said the platform will help companies prioritize the most promising drug compounds early in the process, and reduce costly later-stage drug candidate failures based on toxicity concerns.
Fendrock said the company is now looking to raise a $7 million series B venture round, and that $2 million is already committed. She said that second fundraise should bring the company to a break-even point.