In its largest financing round to date, QuatRx Pharmaceuticals Co. brought in $44 million in a Series E round to support ongoing clinical development of two endocrine programs, including a Phase III-stage selective estrogen receptor modulator for vaginal atrophy, and an early clinical-stage lipid-lowering compound.

The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based firm has raised a total of $122 million since it began operations in 2002. QuatRx had intended to gain a public listing last year, filing for an $86 million initial public offering in February 2006, but instead, became one of several companies to reconsider due to unfavorable market conditions. Fortunately, for QuatRx, the venture capital markets have remained receptive.

"We have a very strong portfolio" of candidates for endocrine, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, said Gary Onn, the company's chief financial officer, and those candidates are "targeting large markets, in excess of $1 billion a year."

QuatRx's lead candidate, Ophena, is in development for postmenopausal symptoms in women, leading off with vaginal atrophy. An oral SERM, Ophena is aimed to be an alternative to traditional hormone replacement therapies, which in 2004 totaled about $1.7 billion in U.S. sales. In early studies, Ophena demonstrated an ability to mimic estrogen's action in bone tissue without stimulating estrogen's effects in the breast and uterus that can increase cancer risk.

The company expects "to see data from that first Phase III trial around the end of 2007," Onn told BioWorld Today. Pending positive results, a second Phase III study is planned to start in 2008, with a new drug application anticipated around the end of 2009.

Behind Ophena is a second endocrine product, fispemifene, a selective estrogen receptor antagonist in development for testosterone deficiency in men. The product is designed to "elevate testosterone levels to the normal range by using the body's own mechanisms," Onn said. Fispemifene is in Phase II studies.

QuatRx gained rights to both Ophena and fispemifene through its May 2005 acquisition of Finnish firm Hormos Medical Ltd. (See BioWorld Today, May 17, 2005.)

The company also has QRX-431, a selective thyroid beta agonist that demonstrated in preclinical studies an ability to lower LDL without significant heart rate increases. That product is in Phase I testing, and results from a multiple-dose study should be available around the end of the year, Onn said.

QuatRx owns rights to all three products. Though it likely will seek commercialization partners to reach those large markets, Onn said the company plans eventually to build its own sales force and establish its own marketing efforts.

Earlier this month, the company out-licensed a fourth product in its development pipeline, a psoriasis drug that fell outside the company's focus of endocrine, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. In that deal, Newtown, Mass.-based CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. paid QuatRx a $1.5 million licensing fee for rights to develop and commercialize becocalcidiol, a vitamin D analogue in Phase II trials as a topical psoriasis treatment. QuatRx also is eligible to receive undisclosed development and sales milestones, as well as royalties on any resulting sales.

With the latest funding round, the company should have sufficient money to operate for "about the next 18 months," Onn said. In the meantime, QuatRx might contemplate another run at a public listing if the market improves.

"We always have an eye on the public market," Onn said, "but right now, our plan is just to advance the portfolio. We might take a look at the public markets again early next year."

The Series E round was led by new investor Menlo Park, Calif.-based Venrock, and Venrock partner Anders Hove joined the company's board. Other new investors Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price; Stockholm, Sweden-based Catella Healthcare; and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hercules Technology Growth Capital also participated, along with a number of existing investors, including: Frazier Healthcare Ventures, of Seattle; TL Ventures, of Wayne, Pa.; MPM Capital, of Boston; InterWest Partners, of Menlo Park, Calif.; Thomas Weisel Healthcare Ventures, of Palo Alto, Calif.; Stockwell Capital, of Chicago; H&B Capital, of Stockholm; BioMedical Ventures, of Copenhagen, Denmark; Bio Fund Ventures, of Helsinki, Finland; and Twilight Venture Partners, of Indianapolis.

Aquilo Partners Inc. served as the exclusive placement agent for the financing.