Biocon Ltd., which partnered with Research Triangle Park-based Nobex in August 2005 to develop an orally administered drug to treat cardiovascular disease, wants to acquire the intellectual property rights and other scientific research-related platforms from Nobex in order to continue pursuit of the drug.

Nobex, which was one of the presenting companies in the 2003 SEBIO conference, indicated it had raised $80 million from various venture capital firms.

Nobex and Biocon had hoped to file an investigational new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and with Indian regulatory officials by 2007 and begin clinical trials shortly thereafter.

Biocon, a biotech company based in Bangalore, India, has reportedly invested $1 million in common stock and more than $4.8 million in unsecured convertible loans in Nobex, ranking second on the list of creditors with the largest unsecured claims against the company.

Elan Pharamceuticals ranked first among those with the largest unsecured claims against Nobex at more than $6 million.

Nobex reported between $1 million and $10 million in total estimated assets and between $10 million and $50 million in estimated debts, according to court documents. The company indicated that it currently has between 50 and 99 creditors.

A privately held company since 1992, Nobex currently employs 11 people, down from approximately 41 two years ago. The company focused its pharmaceutical research and development on three areas: metabolism, oncology and gastroenterology.

(http://triangle.bizjournals.com)