Pharmos hires Burrill & Co. for business development initiatives

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, May 19 - Pharmos Corp., which recently entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Vela Pharmaceuticals Inc., announced Friday that it has retained Burrill & Co. on several business development initiatives.

Pharmos said that Burrill will explore out-licensing opportunities for several of Pharmos' assets, according to a company news release.

Burrill's efforts will cover dexanabinol, a neuroprotective agent that successfully completed a phase 2a clinical trial as a preventive agent against post-surgical cognitive impairment, officials said.

Efforts also will focus on selective scientific business partnerships relating to the CB2- selective cannabinoid compounds in Pharmos' pipeline.

The company's CB2- selective synthetic cannabinoid library consists of cannabinoid receptor agonists that bind preferentially to CB2 receptors. These receptors are found primarily in peripheral immune cells.

Burrill said it also will explore out-licensing opportunities for the company's platform drug delivery nanotechnologies for the oral, dermal, ocular and parenteral administration of lipophilic compounds including NSAIDs, proteins, vaccines and other drugs with poor water solubility.

Following the closing of Pharmos' proposed merger with Vela, Burrill will provide assistance in exploring partnering or out-licensing opportunities for select Vela compounds, officials added.

"The Burrill engagement is an integral part of the transformation and repositioning of Pharmos," Alan L. Rubino, president and chief operating officer of Pharmos, said in the release.

Burrill is a life sciences merchant bank based in San Francisco.

Pharmos is an Iselin, N.J., specialty pharmaceutical company with a focus on neurological and inflammatory disorders.

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