My Oh My, MycoLogics

It is often communicated that the entrepreneur an angel or VC is investing in may carry a superior gravitas than the widget itself, “We invest in people not ideas.”

Well Dr. Claude Selitrennikoff, Ph.D., CEO and founder of MycoLogics, Inc. is that serial entrepreneur packing both a track record of success in business acumen and scientific discovery that every seed stage investor should know about. Following the founding of MycoTox, Inc. in 1989 Claude then led the company to a successful exit to Alpha-Beta Technology in 1997 where he then assumed an executive vice president role, but the entrepreneur in him could not be held back and in 1999 Claude founded MycoLogics. Numerous patents and top-tier publications followed, along with a steady stream to fund operations from NIH Phase I and II SBIR grants totaling approximately $3MM, with additional grants pending review in 3Q05.

MycoLogics is an innovative bio-pharmaceutical company specializing in the development of therapeutic and prophylactic treatments against fungal and parasitic pathogens. The company is uniquely positioned to mitigate the primary risk faced by many other early stage counterparts, namely a diverse and robust pipeline of preclinical candidates rather than the proverbial and much too common fault of having all eggs in one basket. This diverse product portfolio targets a broad spectrum of both human and animal markets currently faced with unmet medical needs.

What continues to differentiate this slayer of fungi is its destiny with cash flow. By smartly choosing the canine and feline channel of combating Coccidioides, perhaps the most virulent of all fungal pathogens and the cause of San Joaquin Valley Fever, the therapeutic may be brought to the veterinary market in as little as eighteen months. All the while completing the critical preclinical data to allow for initiating a phase I human clinical trial which may be brought to the clinic by MycoLogics or this particular asset will undoubtedly have big-pharma salivating considering the role such a cocci therapeutic will play in the vast nosocomial market, whereby immunocompromised patients undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplantation and AIDS-HIV treatment to name a few are particularly susceptible to this and many other fungal infections. The model at MycoLogics calls essentially for a doubling effect for each portfolio asset if the animal market is appropriate.

MycoLogics is leveraging the Targeted Molecular Immunogens (Tarmogen™) technology via a non-exclusive license and option agreement with GlobeImmune, Inc. the patent owner who is currently engaged in human trials for lung and GI tract cancers and is soon to initiate a hepatitis C phase I trial. The Tarmogen™ platform allows MycoLogics numerous advantages in antifungal treatment, in that it effectively “turns on” both pathways of the body’s immune system, namely the humoral and cell-mediated channel, whereas previous treatment attempts would initiate only a single immuno-tributary. So with the body creating this robust immunological response MycoLogics has carved out a unique space for itself. The icing on the cake is that their product may be administered as a therapeutic or prophylactic and it is easy and inexpensive to manufacture.

From senior researcher at Merck to chair of the department of cell and developmental biology at the University of Colorado Health Science Center to successful entrepreneur back at it again, Claude is certain to add ROI to any money invested.

For investor information contact me or Dr. Claude Selitrennikoff, Ph.D..

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