UC San Diego Announces First Sponsorship Through Translational Medicine Program; Forward Ventures to Fund AnalgesiX; New Company to Focus on Pain Therapy

Business Wire, June 16, 2003

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 2003

The University of California, San Diego Translational Medicine program (UCSD TransMed), a novel framework for facilitating private investment in early stage life sciences technology, has announced the successful launch of its first project through an arrangement with Forward Ventures, a San Diego venture capital fund.

The goal of the TransMed program is to accelerate the commercialization of new discoveries in the life sciences from the University for the benefit of patients.

The project's aim is the development of a potent new drug for pain management and inflammation and includes the foundation of a new startup company, AnalgesiX Inc.

The focus of the new company is based on the work of Edward A. Dennis, Ph.D., professor and former chair of chemistry and biochemistry, UCSD School of Medicine and division of physical sciences, and Tony Yaksh, Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology and pharmacology, UCSD School of Medicine. Dennis and Yaksh will pursue the identification of new pain inhibitors for the management of diseases such as arthritis, cancer and atherosclerosis.

Forward Ventures, the first investor to complete an arrangement through the TransMed program, will provide funding to AnalgesiX for up to three years. AnalgesiX has licensed patents relating to the compounds to be developed and will have the exclusive right to negotiate for intellectual property rights that result from the research. TransMed project funding can vary widely depending upon type and stage of research being funded.

In addition, the investigators received a UC Discovery Grant from the University of California's Industry-University Cooperative Research Program, established in 1996 to sponsor university-industry research partnerships.

In total with the combined funding support, the AnalgesiX project could receive up to $1.5 million over three years.

UCSD TransMed was created through the collaborative efforts of the UCSD School of Medicine, UCSD CONNECT, the UCSD Technology Transfer & Intellectual Property Services Office, and local life science executives and capital providers. The program seeks to generate private funding opportunities for UCSD faculty research teams conducting early-stage laboratory-based research that shows promise of improving clinical care. TransMed helps partner investors with researchers whose projects are best suited for private industry sponsorship. All agreements are consistent with the University's existing guidelines.

The TransMed program addresses the "translational funding gap" between the first fundamental laboratory findings, and the development and testing of new drugs or technologies that can be commercialized for use in the diagnosis and treatment of patients, said Edward W. Holmes, UCSD vice chancellor for health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine

"By working closely with the private sector through TransMed, we hope to support and advance projects that are at the intersection of basic and clinical research, and increase the translation of basic discovery into technologies and treatments that will improve patient care," said Holmes. "Our goal is to partner with industry to foster excellent research and develop ideas into technologies and treatments that will ultimately lead to improved human health."

"Forward is participating in TransMed to nurture research and development in San Diego. We feel that early stage investing is a great long-term strategy with a big potential payoff," said Joel Martin, partner with Forward Ventures. "AnalgesiX has a novel approach to pain and inflammation and this is a huge market."

"In addition to providing funding, Forward Ventures has been instrumental in providing valuable feedback on the structure and underlying process of the TransMed program," said Fred Cutler, Ph.D., director of UCSD CONNECT. "TransMed is a true partnership between the university and private capital providers. TransMed has created a unique mechanism whereby capital providers can make very early state investments without the additional risk and effort normally required to set up and staff a start-up business."

The AnalgesiX project was one of 26 submissions to the TransMed program by UCSD basic and more clinically-oriented researchers. After initial screening by a UCSD committee, six projects were offered to investors and posted on a Web site for review. Interested investors worked with the university and the research team on the details of support. With the Forward Ventures' funding, the pain relief project is the first to achieve final approval.

AnalgesiX partners biochemist Dennis, and Yaksh, a leading pain researcher. They plan to target a specific biochemical pathway that initiates the release of various compounds leading to pain and inflammation, and to develop and screen compounds to shut down this initial target. Such a drug could potentially be a potent new form of analgesic, inhibiting pain at its earliest stages as opposed to current drugs that target various enzymes released later in the pain pathway.