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Cerenis: Aspiring to Esperion?

 
• By Melanie Senior

When Esperion's ex-VP chemistry and technologies Jean-Louis Dasseux, PhD co-founded Cerenis Therapeutics in March 2005, he was doubtless inspired partly by Esperion's $1.25 billion sale to Pfizer in December 2003. So were a handful of top-notch VCs including Sofinnova Partners and HealthCap (a previous investor in Esperion), who poured in €25 million ($30.5 million) in August 2005.

Esperion Therapeutics Inc. 's $1.25 billion sale to Pfizer Inc. in December 2003 was almost certainly a one-off. [See Deal] The biotech's most developed program was only in Phase II, yet the extraordinary price offered 1400% returns for the average private investor and a 55% premium to an already-high stock price. This is not the kind of deal that happens twice.

Still, when Esperion's ex-VP chemistry and technologies Jean-Louis Dasseux, PhD co-founded Cerenis Therapeutics SA in March 2005, he was doubtless inspired by the Esperion experience. (See "A Recipe for...

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