Divested from Pfizer, Esperion Therapeutics completes $22.75-million series A financing

03 May 2008

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc, a bio-pharmaceutical company formed to focus on the discovery and development of compounds to treat cardiovascular and metabolic disease, has announced that it has been launched as a privately held, independent enterprise.

In December 2003, Pfizer Inc.  acquired Esperion Therapeutics Inc., then a Michigan-based start up, for $1.3 billion in cash, as it had a promising drug that was at the time still under trials as an effective arterial clogging reversal medication. Under Pfizer, Esperion operated as a separate research division.

Pfizer has now sold Esperion Therapeutics, holding selected programs and related assets, to an entity funded by a syndicate of investors, though Pfizer retains a financial interest in the enterprise. Additional financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Aisling Capital is  a leading private equity firm headquartered in New York with $1billion under management.

Alta Partners is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm focused on life sciences investing.

Arboretum Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm specialising in the health care sector.