Press Release

Flexion Therapeutics Raises $33 Million in Series A Financing

October 16, 2009 | Woburn, MA

Woburn MA, 16 October 2009 – Flexion Therapeutics today announced the successful completion of a Series A financing round totaling $33 million. The funds will be used to advance a number of promising drug candidates through clinically meaningful proof of concept and beyond.

The financing was led by Versant Ventures and included founding investors 5AM Ventures and Sofinnova Partners.

"We're delighted to have raised significant funds from top-tier investors, especially in this very tough financial climate," said Mike Clayman, Chief Executive Officer of Flexion Therapeutics.

Brad Bolzon, Managing Director at Versant Ventures added: "The clinical team at Flexion has developed a unique capability to assess the potential of a given drug candidate as efficiently as possible. We look forward to applying this approach toward building a strong product portfolio and a valuable company."

"We have been overwhelmed by the response from the pharmaceutical industry, which very much wants to partner with the proven team at Flexion," commented Andrew Schwab, founder and Managing Partner at 5AM Ventures.

"It normally takes about four years and up to $40 million to reach clinical proof of concept," continued Rafaèle Tordjman, Partner with Sofinnova Partners. "Flexion can reach that all important milestone in about half the time and an eighth of the cost. That is an outstanding achievement and a paradigm shift in terms of productivity for the pharmaceutical industry."

The Flexion team has evolved the model it first established at Chorus in 2002 to meet the demands of a new environment for drug development. Its strategy includes the advancement of high-value specialty products to market. The team has taken multiple drugs through Phase 3 to market, including seven global submissions for Lilly. Flexion soon expects to announce deals with three major pharmaceutical companies.

Veteran venture capitalist Sam Colella of Versant Ventures and entrepreneur Pat Mahaffy, Chief Executive Officer of Clovis Oncology, recently joined Flexion's board of directors.