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Mercaptor Wants To Reinvent Drug Discovery And Development With No Pharma Or VC Funding

 
• By Lucie Ellis-Taitt

Emerging Company Profile: Mercaptor – a California company that emerged from Raptor Pharmaceutical, which Horizon Pharma bought for $800m in 2016 – has grandiose plans to create a new therapy for neurodegenerative disorders with only scientists running the show and no pharma or VC backing.

Emerging Company Profile Regular column feature image Version 2

Mercaptor Discoveries, a new drug discovery business founded by research scientists, is striving to get its first compound into clinical testing as a treatment for neurodegenerative disorders without being backed or bankrolled by pharma or venture capital investors.

The company's technology was discovered at Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp., an orphan drug company that was acquired by Horizon Pharma PLC in September 2016 for around $800m. (Also see "Raptor Buy Bolsters Horizon's Orphan Business As Primary Care Foots The Bill" - Scrip, 13 September, 2016

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