Index leads $20m Egalet round

Ellie Pullen
17 September 2013

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Index Ventures has led a $20m funding round for Egalet, a pharmaceutical company specialising in the development of abuse-deterrent oral products.

The round also saw a number of other existing investors take part. Alongside Index, Egalet has previously received backing from Sunstone Capital, Enso Ventures, Atlas Venture and Omega Funds, according to the company's website.

Half the committed $20m has been disbursed to Egalet already. The $10m balance is described as optional under "pre-specified conditions".

This funding round is described by Egalet as its series-C, with at least four previous funding rounds recorded in unquote" data.

Previous funding
Egalet first received funding in October 2001 from Bio Fund Management, Dansk Kapitalanlaeg, Danske Bank and QueQuion Holdings. The firms invested approximately €14.4m, according to unquote" data.

The company then secured a further $27.6m in March 2006. The round was co-led by Atlas and Index, and saw previous investors Bio Fund, Dansk Kapitalanlaeg, Danske Bank and QueQuion participate.

In April 2007, Vækstfonden Life Science Ventures led a consortium of investors in a €14.5m funding round for Egalet, described as its series-B. All previous investors – Atlas, Bio Fund, Dansk Kapitalanlæg, Danske Bank, Index and QueQuoin – took part in the round.

Egalet's last funding prior to this $20m round took place last May. Atlas, Index, Omega Funds and Sunstone Capital injected $14.3m into the company alongside new investor CLS Capital, now known as Enso Ventures. Sunstone led the round.

Company
Egalet was founded in 1995. The company is headquartered in London, with a US operations office in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and a research and development facility in Værløse, Denmark.

The company develops tamper-resistant opioids that are designed to prevent the abuse of pain medication. Egalet's two drug delivery systems, Egalet-001 and Egalet-002, are close to late-stage clinical testing. Both candidates will be tested as abuse-deterrent oral formulations of opioids.

Egalet's platforms are designed to deter pain medication abusers from being able to break down the drug's components and ultimately snort or inject the active opioid ingredient in the medication. According to Egalet, prescription drug abuse became the leading cause of accidental death in the US in 2008.

People
Robert Radie is the president and CEO of Egalet. The company's board of directors comprises Sunstone partner Andreas Segerros; Omega partner Renee Aguiar-Lucander; Enso partner Andrey Kozlov; and Atlas partner Jean-Francois Formela, who serves as the board's chairman.

Bio Fund senior partner Seppo Mäkinen, Atlas's Regina Hodits and Index's Francesco de Rubertis have all previously sat on Egalet's board of directors.