Date: Jul 28, 2014 Author: Don Seiffert Source: bizjournals (
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As the number of diabetics worldwide skyrockets, a small Newton company developing new types of insulin has closed on $1.6 million for studies needed to bring its first drug to human tests next year.
Rick Berenson, CEO of Thermalin Diabetes, said this morning that the funding is the latest in a $5.9 million Series B round of funding, all from private investors. The company has now raised a total of $11.2 million from investors, plus another $9.3 million in grants, mostly from the Small Business Innovation Research (or SBIR) program.
Berenson, a Brookline native who runs the company's business office from the basement of his Newton home, said that while the global market for insulin has more than tripled in the past decade to $17 billion a year, there has been little innovation in creating new types of insulin during that time. Man-made insulin was invented in 192 and it was created from animal pancreas until the 1980s, when it became the first-ever biologic drug. Later innovations created faster or slower-acting versions in response to different needs. Today, major makers of insulin include Eli Lilly, which makes Humalog, Novo Nordisk, which makes NovoLog, and Lantus, marketed by French drugmaker Sanofi (owner of Cambridge-based Genzyme Corp.).
Berenson said patents for all three of those forms of insulin will expire in the next couple of years, and big pharma companies (namely Eli Lilly and Merck & Co.) have been working to develop generic versions of the biologic drugs, known as "biosimilars." His company, however, is focused on smaller niche markets within the larger demand for insulin which have become profitable as the need for the drug has exploded.
Thermalin's lead drug in development is a highly concentrated version of insulin which could potentially be used to make insulin pumps (such as those made by Bedford-based Insulet Corp. (Nasdaq: PODD), maker of the OmniPod pump) smaller. It could also be used for certain patients who require larger doses of insulin who are not currently treated effectively, he said.
The company is also working on an ultra-fast acting version of insulin that could be used with artificial pancreas now in development, as well as a form of insulin that can last almost a year without refrigeration. Insulin is now only effective for 30 days at room temperature.
Berenson, a local entrepreneur who has been focused on life science company for the past 15 years, said the company came about when his college roommate, Michael Weiss, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, called him in 2007 to say he'd invented a type of insulin he thought would be useful in developing countries.
"I said, ‘What are you going to do for developed countries, since no one's going to fund a product that's only for the developing world?'" said Berenson.
Weiss is now founder and chief scientific officer at Thermalin, which has 15 employees in Cleveland, Ohio and just three in Newton.
Berenson said the most recent funding will go toward studies of the concentrated form of insulin which will allow the company to apply to test it in humans as soon as next spring. He said the insulin has already shown proof of concept in animals.
He said the only other recent company which has made progress in the innovation of new forms of insulin has been Beverly-based SmartCells, which was founded on technology that came out of MIT and was acquired by Merck & Co. in 2010 for $500 million.
"What that tells you is a new, advantaged insulin is highly valued on the market right now, " said Berenson.
