TheraQuest Biosciences Completes $2.25 Million Seed Round with BioAdvance and Ben Franklin Technology Partners Investments

SE Pennsylvania Funds Invest $750,000 in Developer of Novel Pain Management Drugs

Blue Bell, Pa, July 22 – PRNewswire – TheraQuest Biosciences, a development stage pain management company, announced today that it has completed a seed financing round with $500,000 and $250,000 investments respectively, from BioAdvance, the Biotechnology Greenhouse of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP). TheraQuest is building a diversified portfolio of pharmaceutical products to address a critical area of unmet medical need -- analgesics providing greater safety and effectiveness, with less abuse potential, than currently available treatments. TheraQuest’s most advanced product is TQ-1015, a sustained release opioid analgesic for the treatment of chronic severe pain that is designed to deter abuse.

"BioAdvance and BFTP are important investment partners for TheraQuest since both organizations have a track record of working with successful life sciences ventures,” said Najib Babul, PharmD, president and CEO of TheraQuest. “The additional value BioAdvance and BFTP provide will be a significant asset as we advance our lead compound towards commercialization in the $5 billion U.S. market for opioid analgesics."

These two investments, in the form of convertible debt, cap a $2.25 million seed round with founding investor and CEO, Dr. Najib Babul. TheraQuest will use the funds to progress the early development and testing of TQ-1015.

“TheraQuest is an excellent example of why our region is fertile ground for new biomedical ventures,” said Barbara Schilberg, chief executive officer and managing director of BioAdvance, “Dr. Babul is a recognized expert in the development of therapies for pain management who is well positioned to take advantage of the wealth of relevant experience and resources in our region to rapidly progress TheraQuest’s clinical programs, tapping into existing networks of leading R&D, clinical research and regulatory expertise. In addition, the pharma companies that are a rich source of potential products are nearby, facilitating the ability of a company like TheraQuest to either generate drugs on its own, or to improve on high-potential compounds discovered by others.”
“Consistent with our goal of helping to finance early stage firms addressing major unmet needs, BFTP is pleased to be an investor in TheraQuest,” noted Jimmy Lee, director of investments and entrepreneurial services in biotechnology and life sciences for Ben Franklin Technology Partners-Southeastern Pennsylvania. “Despite recent pharmaceutical advances, we still lack highly effective analgesic drugs that are not susceptible to abuse. TheraQuest is developing a new analgesic that provides effective pain relief to patients while minimizing the risk of misuse and drug diversion.”
Opioids such as morphine and oxycodone are widely used for the management of chronic severe pain, but have side effects, and in recent years a major increase in the abuse of sustained release narcotic analgesics has become a law enforcement issue in many communities, leading to physician concerns about prescribing these drugs and pharmacy reluctance to stock them. TheraQuest Biosciences is currently developing four candidates for the treatment of acute and chronic pain, including products like TQ-1015 that are specifically designed to minimize the abuse potential of narcotic analgesics.

“There is physician and patient need for analgesics that can optimize pain relief and minimize side effects, but without the abuse potential that has plagued the pain management field,” added Dr. Babul. “The unique pharmacology of our lead compound TQ-1015, which combines sustained release technology with abuse deterrence, will provide us with a strong commercial advantage in this large and growing market."

About TheraQuest Biosciences

TheraQuest Biosciences, LLC is a private, development-stage pain management company building a diversified portfolio of pharmaceutical products to address a critical area of unmet medical need. Despite their limitations, current treatments for acute and chronic pain yield worldwide sales in excess of $25 billion. The TheraQuest team has contributed to the development of numerous analgesics approved in the U.S. over the past 20 years. TheraQuest’s strategy is to use its expertise to identify, develop and commercialize product candidates with strong market potential that have lower development costs and reduced regulatory risk than new chemical entities. TheraQuest is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Additional information is available at www.theraquestinc.com.

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