Austin—Xeris Pharmaceuticals, an Austin biotech, has raised $41 million in a Series C funding round and named a new CEO.
Paul Edick has replaced Douglas Baum, as president and CEO of the company, which is developing a glucagon solution and injection device (G-Pen) for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia. Edick most recently had been CEO of Durata Therapeutics, a public company that was sold to Actavis and is now known as Allergan (NYSE: [[ticker:AGN]]).
“Paul’s decades of experience leading companies in the pharmaceutical industry, his vision, and his leadership make him uniquely qualified to lead Xeris at this moment of great opportunity for the company,” Robert Faulkner, a member of Xeris’ board of directors, said in a press release.
The Series C round was led by the Redmile Group and included other investors such as Deerfield Management, Sabby Management, and The McNair Group, among others.
Xeris is developing what it calls the XeriSol platform for injectable drug formulations. Its leading product is a stable, soluble, and ready-to-inject glucagon for diabetics. Xeris aims to offer an alternative to glucagon emergency kits.
Glucagon is a metabolic hormone secreted by the pancreas that raises blood glucose levels by causing the liver to rapidly convert glycogen, which is the stored form of glucose into glucose, which is then released into the bloodstream. Glucagon and insulin are two critical hormones in a glycemic control system that keeps blood glucose at the right level in healthy individuals.
