Biotech raises another $37m
Drug firm Concert's hydrogen approach lures more investors
Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc., a small biotechnology company in Lexington, has quietly raised more than $95 million in venture capital since its founding two years ago, a sign of investors' enthusiasm about Concert's experimental drug technology.
The company, which is trying to develop medicines for hot flashes for postmenopausal women and other conditions using a heavy version of hydrogen, plans to say today that it has raised $37 million in its latest round of venture capital, one of the largest venture capital hauls by a New England company so far this year. That is in addition to $58.5 million it raised in two earlier rounds.
Concert says it stands out from other drug companies because of its focus on deuterium, a heavy form of hydrogen that is found in sea water.
"We believe we are pioneers in using deuterium to create improved medicines," said chief executive Roger Tung, who formerly worked at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Cambridge.
Concert's researchers are trying to develop better drugs by replacing some of the ordinary hydrogen atoms in prospective drugs with deuterium - creating new versions that might turn out to be safer or more effective. Though deuterium behaves much like hydrogen, it has about double the mass because its nucleus contains both a proton and a neutron. Ordinary hydrogen contains one particle, a proton. Deuterium comes from the Greek word deuteros, or "second," referring to the second particle in its core.
Still, Concert, which has 40 employees, is years away from marketing its first drug. The company plans to begin its first clinical trials later this year with a pill called CTP-347, which is designed to treat hot flashes. It is currently testing several other compounds in animals to combat pain, infection, nephropathy (a kidney disorder), and fibrosis (the development of excessive fibrous connective tissue).
Investors include Brookside Capital Partners Fund LP, Flagship Ventures, Greylock Partners, Adage Capital Management LP, and Westfield Capital Management.
Todd Wallack can be reached at twallack@globe.com.
