HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has closed a $13 million extension of their Series B financing. The Series B Extension is being funded by its existing investors: Aberdare Ventures, De Novo Ventures, Forward Ventures, Latterell Venture Partners and Lilly Ventures. Proceeds from the financing will be used to fund a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b clinical study evaluating lead product candidate HQK-1001 in patients with sickle cell disease. The Company believes this financing, combined with existing cash balances, will be sufficient to allow completion of the Phase 2b trial and to fund operations through early 2014.

HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Presents at 10th Annual BIO Investor Forum, Oct-26-2011 02:00 PM. Venue: Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California, United States.

HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has completed enrollment in a randomized multi-dose Phase 2 study of HQK-1001 in patients with sickle cell disease. The study, initiated in April of this year, enrolled a total of 52 patients in clinical sites in the US, Canada, Jamaica, Egypt and Lebanon, and is designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of HQK-1001. Secondary objectives include the effect on fetal hemoglobin and sickle cell crises. HemaQuest expects interim results from the study in late 2011 and final results in the first quarter of 2012. HQK-1001 belongs to a class of compounds originally discovered at Boston University School of Medicine. These compounds, designated as Short Chain Fatty Acid Derivatives (SCFADs), have been shown to stimulate fetal hemoglobin expression and red blood cell production in the laboratory and in small clinical trials in patients with hemoglobin disorders, including sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. Increased fetal hemoglobin production in red blood cells has been shown to reduce the frequency of pain crises and hospitalizations of patients with sickle cell disease. HQK-1001 is an orally administered SCFAD, which has shown an excellent safety profile and biologic effects on fetal hemoglobin induction and red blood cell production in the laboratory, relevant animal models, and in clinical trials carried out in healthy human subjects as well as patients with sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. The compound has received Orphan Drug Designation in the United States and Europe for both sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.