Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals closes $6.17M Series B-4 private equity financing

Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately held, clinical stage oncology-focused pharmaceutical company, has announced the closing of its Series B-4 private equity financing of $6,175,000. The Company plans to use the proceeds for its on-going phase I/II clinical trials of its lead cancer drug--CPI-613, research and development, and general corporate purposes.  

"We are very pleased to begin 2010 by announcing this solid infusion of new capital for the sustained growth and development of our business, particularly the expansion of the clinical trials of our CPI-613 product," commented Dr. Robert Shorr, CEO for Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals.

CPI-613 is the lead compound to emerge from Cornerstone's Altered Energy Metabolism Directed (AEMD) technology platform. AEMD is the first in class small molecule discovery and development platform targeting cancer cell metabolism. CPI-613 is being used as a single agent and in combination with gemcitabine, a standard chemotherapeutic for the treatment of pancreatic and other cancers.  CPI-613 has been granted orphan drug status by the US FDA for pancreatic cancer, which often goes undetected in its early stages and spreads rapidly, typically resulting in poor prognosis.

C.W. Downer acted as placement agent for the financing with Althea Partners leading the investment.  "C.W. Downer is thrilled to have assisted Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in raising capital to fund its highly promising cancer program," notes Ruta Laukien, Director at C.W. Downer.  Laukien added, "We believe that targeting cancer metabolism is the most promising area for the development of cancer therapeutics and Cornerstone is a leader in that field."