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ESP Pharma Founder Launches EKR Therapeutics with Financing Led by
NewSpring Capital and ESP Equity Partners
Cedar Knolls, NJ, June 27, 2006 - EKR Therapeutics, Inc, an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company has completed its first institutional financing led by NewSpring Capital and ESP Equity Partners. EKR will be led by Howard Weisman, former founder, President and Director of ESP Pharma, formed in 2002 and sold to PDL Biopharma (NASDAQ: PDLI) for over $500 million. Mr. Weisman, Chairman and CEO of the company, is joined by EKR co-founders Cathy Kerzner and Richard DeSimone who will serve as President and Chief Financial Officer, respectively.
Mr. Weisman noted, “We see a tremendous opportunity to focus on
significant unmet needs of cancer patients, many of whom are now
able to live as cancer survivors, and as a result, require various
support products that enable them to undergo treatments over
increasingly longer time horizons. The specialty
pharmaceutical model of a focused therapeutic franchise will ensure
that these patients get access to the best products our industry has
to offer.”
According to the company, plans are underway to launch its first
product later this summer, and recruitment of personnel in sales,
marketing and medical areas is commencing immediately. Kerzner,
a pharmaceutical industry veteran formerly at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
is also President-elect of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s
Association. She remarked, “I am excited about the prospects
of EKR Therapeutics and look forward to helping build a company that
will deliver high value products to patients who are determined to
survive cancer and maintain the highest possible quality of life
that can be achieved using novel prescription medicines.”
According to Zev Scherl, a General Partner at NewSpring Capital who will serve on the Board of Directors with Mr. Weisman and Mr. DeSimone, “We have tracked Weisman since the founding and successful sale of ESP Pharma to PDL BioPharma last year, and NewSpring Capital is pleased to partner with him and the entrepreneurial EKR team he has assembled. We are confident EKR will be successful in improving the quality of life of cancer survivors who deserve to live comfortably during and after their courses of oncological treatment.”
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