Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, reported results of a Phase II clinical trial of its first compound, A- 002, for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The trial results suggest that treatment with A- 002 resulted in significant reductions in blood levels of total cholesterol, Non-High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (non HDL-C), and Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C), known as “bad” cholesterol, coupled with equally meaningful reductions of C-Reactive Protein (CRP), a recognized marker of inflammation and cardiovascular risk. Decreases in these levels with A- 002 treatment were most significant among patients already on a background of statin therapy.

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing therapies for the treatment of serious inflammatory diseases, today announced it closed an initial $36 million in venture financing. The funding was co-led by VantagePoint Venture Partners and Sofinnova Ventures and are joined by Pappas Ventures, Mitsubishi International Corporation, along with Series A-1 investors Sears Capital Management and SIM Equity. Eli Lilly and Company and Shionogi & Co., Ltd. also received equity as part of Anthera’s obligations under the recently announced license agreement. Annette Bianchi, Managing Director, and co-Head of VantagePoint’s Healthcare Practice Group and Jim Healy, General Partner of Sofinnova Ventures were named to the Board of Directors.

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing anti-inflammatory drugs, announced today that it has entered into a license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company and Shionogi & Co., Ltd. under which Anthera has obtained worldwide (except for Japan) development and commercialization rights to an entire platform of clinical and preclinical inhibitors of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) developed by Lilly and Shionogi as part of their collaboration. Inflammation plays a central role in a number of life-threatening diseases including acute lung injury, atherosclerosis, and psoriasis. PLA2 consists of a family of enzymes upstream in the arachidonic acid pathway of inflammation, which is responsible for production of leukotrienes, oxidants and other pro- inflammatory mediators. A substantial evidence base specifically implicates PLA2 in each of the disease states addressed by Anthera’s development programs -- the most advanced of which is an early intervention therapy in acute chest syndrome in patients with sickle cell disease.