BY: DON SEIFFERT
New Haven Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NHP), which plans to seek approval for a slow-release aspirin product next year, has received a $6.6 million Series A round from a mix of private and public investment groups.
The New Haven, Conn. company received $1.5 million from Connecticut Innovations (CI), a quasi-public authority aimed at helping innovative companies in the state. The remainder of the investment comes from EJ Funds, Kuzari Group, Advantage Capital Partners, Yale University, and individual investors, according to a statement from CI.
The company’s CEO, Patrick Fourteau, who previously served as president and CEO of Shionogi from 2008 until 2010, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
NHP is developing proprietary prescription pharmaceuticals using drugs that are already on the market or active pharmaceutical ingredients that are generally recognized as safe. The company uses proprietary oral, controlled-release technologies, and intellectual property licensed from Yale University. It plans to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its most advanced product candidate, NHP-554C, as an anti-platelet therapy for the secondary prevention of stroke and acute cardiovascular events. The company is also developing products to lower stomach acid.
“My plan is to build NHP into a successful specialty pharmaceuticals company that generates both a generous return for its investors, and jobs for our home state,” Fourteau said in a statement.