Horizon Therapeutics develops pain‑relief drugs, with lead candidate HZT‑501 combining famotidine and ibuprofen into a single pill. HZT‑501 completed two Phase 3 trials in December 2008, showing about 50% fewer stomach ulcers versus ibuprofen alone. The company has two other pain candidates in preclinical development and its regulatory status after Phase 3 is unclear; it has not announced an NDA filing. Financially, Horizon reported raising $8 million in equity via a Series D Preferred Stock financing from 26 investors, with the first sale in December. It previously reported $51 million in private financing from Scale Venture Partners, Pequot Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, though it is unclear whether the $8 million is included in that total. A separate SEC filing noted $17 million from the sale of debt, options and other securities (first sale Oct. 28, 2008), suggesting that amount may already be part of the $51 million. Horizon was incorporated in 2005 and moved to Skokie, Illinois from Palo Alto, California after hiring CEO Timothy Walbert. Palo Alto-based Horizon Therapeutics is a biotech that combines existing generic drugs into proprietary single-pill therapies to treat pain. Its lead candidate, HZT-501, couples ibuprofen with famotidine (Pepcid) to try to reduce ibuprofen-related gastrointestinal injury. The company positions the combination as providing pain relief with fewer GI side effects, a claim similar to that made for COX-2 inhibitors. Horizon plans to use the $30 million from its third funding round to push HZT-501 through late-stage trials toward a potential FDA filing and to advance HZT-602 (naproxen + famotidine) into late-stage trials. The strategy emphasizes patient convenience but faces risk because patients and doctors can already take the separate generics and because the components have different dosing schedules. The latest round was led by Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and included existing investors Scale Venture Partners, Sutter Hill Ventures and Pequot Ventures; the company had previously raised $21 million in equity funding. Horizon Therapeutics is a Palo Alto company developing HZT-501, a "GI-friendly" prescription NSAID designed to reduce NSAID-induced ulceration. HZT-501 pairs an ibuprofen-like NSAID with the H2 receptor antagonist famotidine. The company says the drug is specifically designed to provide pain relief while reducing stomach acidity during the peak time of ulceration risk. Horizon is close to bringing HZT-501 into the third and final set of clinical trials. Financially, the company recently raised $15 million in a second round of funding after completing a $6 million first round in October 2005 with the same investors. Scale Venture Partners led the latest round, with participation from Sutter Hill Ventures and Pequot Ventures.

Total raised

$53M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series D

Latest activity

Mar 2010