BioWorld International Correspondent

LONDON - MedPharma plc is putting its head above the parapet to test the public markets with a proposed initial public offering on London's Alternative Investment Market to raise £8 million (US$12.4 million) net of expenses.

Tim Cofman of Hoodless Brennan & Partners, brokers to the flotation, told BioWorld International, "We have done some premarketing and received suitable encouragement. Providing [these investors] come through, it will be a success."

MedPharma, based in Charlbury, Oxfordshire, specializes in sexual dysfunction and urology products, buying products that have completed Phase I and outlicensing them at the end of Phase II. The company has four products in Phase II and two in Phase I. "These are products for major markets where there is not much provision, and big drug companies are looking to build a pipeline," Cofman said.

Cofman said investors are looking for later-stage companies and that MedPharma has de-risked its development program by taking on products that have been approved for other indications or have passed Phase I. The £8 million will allow the company to accelerate Phase II studies of the products currently in the pipeline and begin to outlicense them by the end of 2003. Cofman said MedPharma would not need further funding before it reaches profitability.

MedPharma has raised £5 million since it was founded in 1999 by Mike Wyllie, chief technical director, who was part of the Pfizer Inc. team that developed the impotence treatment Viagra. Other members of the ex-pharma management team are Neil Stafford, chairman, who was formerly global business director of Monsanto Corp., and Murray Mayton, CEO and medical director, who was director of the global sexual franchise at Pfizer.

Viagra was originally developed to treat angina, and while clinical studies found the side effects were unacceptable in that indication, they uncovered its potential in treating erectile dysfunction. Its success in that market led Wyllie to recognize the commercial potential of the urology market, and in particular that there were opportunities for extending the use of drugs developed to treat other indications.

Among MedPharma's products are Roche BDM, a novel treatment for bladder dysfunction in males and females, being developed in a joint venture with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., which has completed single- and multiple-dose studies in volunteers.

Another is Tempe, a localized treatment for premature ejaculation, comprising a novel combination of approved generic drugs in a dose-metered delivery system. It has completed a proof-of-concept study and is expected to complete Phase II by the end of 2003. Alongside Tempe, MedPharma is developing SAM, a noninvasive medical device that provides measurements of time to ejaculation, providing data for clinicians to assess and monitor improvements following therapy. The company is in discussions with medical device distributors and pharmaceutical companies to outlicense that product.

Other products are Topsin for treating moderate to severe stress incontinence, which is based on a drug that is approved for treating other conditions, and Capsig, a combined assay for detecting early markers of prostate cancer.

Cofman said the new money would also be used to expand the pipeline.