The Canada-based Tranzyme Pharma, a leading biopharmaceutical company developing novel mechanism-based therapeutics for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, has completed an oversubscribed round of private financing, raising a total of $32 million.

The financing was led by HIG Ventures, Thomas, McNerney & Partners and Quaker BioVentures. Additional participants in the round included existing investors, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC Venture Capital), Desjardins Venture Capital, Pacific Rim Ventures and The Solidarity Fund (FTQ). As part of this financing, $6 million in previously issued notes have been converted into equity shares.

"This financing brings together an international group of investors committed to advancing the Company's therapeutics through the clinic," said David J Drutz, chairman of Tranzyme and general partner, Pacific Rim Ventures.

Vipin K Garg, president and chief executive officer of Tranzyme stated, "The funds raised in this round of financing will allow us to accelerate the clinical development of our lead compounds and focus on additional discovery and pre-clinical development efforts to expand our pipeline."

Upon the close of the financing, three new members have joined the Tranzyme Pharma board of directors: Aaron Davidson, managing director of H.I.G. Ventures, Alex Zisson, venture partner at Thomas McNerney & Partners, and Brenda Gavin, managing partner of Quaker BioVentures.

"Tranzyme's ability to discover, optimize and develop first-in-class drugs combined with their experienced management team makes this an attractive investment opportunity," stated Aaron Davidson, managing director HIG Ventures.

HIG Ventures is one of the largest venture capital firms in the Southeast United States with more than $550 million of capital under management. It has more than $2 billion of equity capital under management.

Thomas, McNerney & Partners, LLC, is a healthcare private equity firm that invests in life science and medical technology companies. The firm's partners have successfully funded companies at all stages of their development, having collectively invested over $500 million in more than 40 entities.

Quaker BioVentures is a $280 million venture capital firm dedicated to investing in life science companies located in the Mid-Atlantic region. The firm leads investments in companies across the spectrum of the life science industry, including biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, human diagnostics, health information technology, and healthcare services.

Tranzyme is developing novel orally bio-available, small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. The company's candidate drugs originate from its own discovery pipeline of proprietary compounds with high affinity.