Biscayne Pharmaceuticals closes $3.4 million funding round

Celia Ampel

Reporter-South Florida Business Journal   

 

Samuel Reich, Dr. Joshua Hare and Dr. Andrew Schally at the Biomedical Research Building on the campus of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in 2013.Enlarge PhotoSamuel Reich, Dr. Joshua Hare and Dr. Andrew Schally at the Biomedical Research Building on the campus of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in 2013.

Miami biotechnology firm Biscayne Pharmaceuticals raised $3.4 million from private investors and from the state of Florida, CEO Sam Reich said.

The Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research contributed $200,000, in addition to its $300,000 investment to help launch the company two years ago.

"We think the fact that the state of Florida has invested in us is a great testament to our company," Reich said.

Biscayne Pharmaceuticals is in the pre-clinical stages of developing one drug that aims to combat heart disease and another to treat triple-negative breast cancer.

"We're talking about major, multibillion-dollar markets," Reich said. "We think these drugs will have a major impact in the health care field."

Reich co-founded the company with Dr. Andrew Schally, who discovered growth hormone-releasing hormone's potential impact on heart disease and cancer as a professor at theUniversity of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.

Creating companies based on public research is the goal of the Florida Institute, a state-funded nonprofit. Companies that receive Institute investment must match the funding with private capital.

Jane Teague, the institute's COO, said Biscayne Pharmaceuticals "continues to make great progress against milestones outlined in their business plan."

Reich's investment group, The Reich Group, was one of the investors in the company's latest round of financing. He raised a previous round of $1.5 million in 2013.