Biotech firm Cerenis to double staff over next 18 months

Cerenis Therapeutics, with employees in Ann Arbor and France, landed the largest venture capital investment in the state with a $52 million investment from a group of investment companies this fall.

Cerenis, which has a staff of 10 split between its Ann Arbor and French operations, plans to double its staff within the next 18 months.

The company is working with two different treatments, Cerenis HDL and PPAR delta. Cerenis HDL mimics natural HDL, which is the "good cholesterol" that helps remove "bad" cholesterol from the body. The other chemical helps raise HDL in the body.

What's really innovative about this development is that the new drug could reduce artery plaque instead of just preventing its buildup, like Lipitor.

The addition of Cerenis' venture capital could likely help push the total amount of equity financing secured by Michigan companies this year past $100 million, said Michael Shore, a spokesman for the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

In 2005, Michigan companies attracted $83 million worth of investment, of which about $30 million went to biotechnology firms.

Cerenis was founded by some of the same people who originally formed Ann Arbor-based Esperion Therapeutics, a drug development firm purchased by Pfizer Inc. for $1.3 billion in December 2003. Esperion's drug, ETC-216 reduced the amount of plaque in arteries.

Source: Michael Shore, MEDC; Cerenis Therapeutics