Zavante Therapeutics Closes $45 Million Series A Financing In Support Of U.S. Development For A First-In-Class Injectable Antibiotic

SAN DIEGO, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Zavante Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held, late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has closed a $45 million Series A financing, consisting of $35 million from new investors and $10 million from the conversion of outstanding convertible notes. Proceeds from the financing will be used for the development of the Company's lead product candidate, ZTI-01 (fosfomycin for injection), an injectable antibiotic with a differentiated mechanism of action designed for use in the hospital setting. In the second quarter of 2016, Zavante plans to initiate the ZEUS Study, a single pivotal clinical trial for ZTI-01, a first-in-class broad spectrum IV antibiotic under development to treat multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens.

Participating in the round were co-leaders Frazier Healthcare Partners and Longitude Capital, as well as Aisling Capital. In conjunction with this financing, Patrick Heron, managing general partner of Frazier Healthcare Partners' Life Sciences team, and David Hirsch, M.D., Ph.D., managing director and founder of Longitude Capital, will join the Zavante board of directors. Andrew Schiff, M.D., managing partner of Aisling Capital, will take an observer seat.

"Closing a $45 million Series A financing is a significant achievement that we believe demonstrates tremendous support for our differentiated, injectable antibiotic as we prepare to conduct the pivotal ZEUS Study," said Ted Schroeder, founder, president and CEO of Zavante. "We have a strong team in place and now we have the financial backing to accelerate the development of our lead product candidate, ZTI-01, with a goal of providing improved anti-infective therapeutic options in the hospital setting."  

ZTI-01 is a first-in-class injectable epoxide antibiotic that has demonstrated a broad spectrum of bactericidal gram-negative and gram-positive activity, including activity against most contemporary MDR bacterial strains, for which current antibiotic therapeutic choices are severely limited. In September 2014, the FDA initially granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation for ZTI-01 for the indication of complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI). In December 2015, the FDA expanded the QIDP designations for ZTI-01 to include complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI), hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP)/ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP), and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI). Additionally, the FDA granted fast-track designations for all four QIDP designations. These QIDP designations make ZTI-01 eligible for certain incentives available for the development of new antibiotics, including priority FDA review and an additional five-years of market exclusivity under the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now (GAIN) Act.

"We are looking forward to collaborating with Zavante's experienced management team as they develop new therapeutic regimens for use in the hospital setting," said Heron. "We believe there is ample opportunity to develop late-stage antibiotics that can transform healthcare and address unmet needs."  

"Zavante Therapeutics is in a great position to achieve its goal of developing novel therapies to improve the outcomes of hospitalized patients with its first product candidate ZTI-01, which is entering into its pivotal study soon," added Dr. Hirsch. "Our organization supports backing companies like Zavante because they have the tools to get the job done."  

Heron and Hirsch join Schroeder and the Company's Founder and Chairman Cam Garner on Zavante's Board of Directors.

About Frazier Healthcare Partners

Founded in 1991, Frazier Healthcare Partners has been a leading U.S.-based healthcare-focused investment firm providing private growth capital to healthcare companies. The firm has more than $2.9 billion in committed capital under management and has made investments in more than 170 companies ranging from early-stage venture investments to growth buyouts of profitable lower middle market companies. Frazier's experienced team takes an active approach to helping build portfolio companies, leveraging their deep domain expertise and expansive network of healthcare executives, advisors and industry thought leaders. Frazier Life Sciences Fund and Frazier Healthcare Growth Buyout Fund are the two vehicles utilized to make investments in early stage life sciences companies and lower middle market profitable growth buyout companies, respectively. While these strategies target companies in distinctively different market segments and stages of development, both investment teams leverage the firm's rich 25-year history to identify and partner with exceptional management teams to develop category-leading companies. Frazier has offices in Seattle, Wash., and Menlo Park, Calif., and invests broadly across the United States, Canada and Europe.

For more information about Frazier Healthcare Partners, visit the company's website at www.frazierhealthcare.com.

 About Longitude Capital

Longitude Capital is a private investment firm that focuses on venture growth investments in drug development and medical technology. The firm builds balanced portfolios of mid-stage to commercial-stage companies with clinically de-risked assets that are likely to achieve key value-creating milestones within three-to-five years. Besides traditional venture capital investments, Longitude's investment team also proactively searches for "special situations", such as spin-outs, recapitalizations, PIPEs, royalties and structured transactions, across both privately-held and publicly-traded companies.

Founded in 2006, Longitude Capital consists of ten investment professionals and operates bi-coastally with offices in Menlo Park, CA and Greenwich, CT. Longitude Capital has over $700 million in assets under management as of 2013, and most recently raised $385 million for its second fund, Longitude Venture Partners II, L.P., in 2012. 

For more information about Longitude Capital, visit the company's website at www.longitudecapital.com.

About Aisling Capital

Aisling Capital is a leading private equity fund that invests in products, technologies, and global businesses that advance health. Aisling Capital is led by a group of investment professionals with diverse backgrounds in industry, science, and finance. The team's complementary backgrounds give Aisling Capital unique perspective on the key players, events, and forces shaping the life science industry, and allow the Fund to identify investment opportunities. In working with our portfolio companies, the principals of Aisling Capital seek to provide the financing, relationships, and guidance needed to build highly successful companies.

For more information about Aisling Capital, visit the company's website at www.aislingcapital.com.

About Zavante Therapeutics, Inc.

Zavante is a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on licensing, developing and commercializing novel products that address serious unmet medical needs in the hospital.

Additional information is available at www.zavante.com.

ZAVANTE and ZAVANTE THERAPEUTICS are registered trademarks of Zavante Therapeutics, Inc.

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SOURCE Zavante Therapeutics, Inc.

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