Economy & Economic Development  May 8, 2015

Omni Bio Pharmaceutical shutting down due to lack of funds

FORT COLLINS – Officials for Omni Bio Pharmaceutical Inc., a spinoff of University of Colorado technology, disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange this week that the company will cease operations.

The filing stated that the Fort Collins-based company had been unsuccessful in raising funds and in its partnering and licensing efforts, making it unlikely that the firm could raise enough capital to continue operations.

“Consequently, the Board of Directors of the company has approved an orderly wind-down of the company, including negotiations with its senior secured creditor, Bohemian Investments, LLC,” the filing stated.

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Officials for Omni Bio did not respond to phone and email messages seeking comment on Friday. Officials for Fort Collins-based Bohemian Cos., meanwhile, declined comment.

Omni Bio, which traded shares over the counter under the ticker symbol OMBP, had been developing a recombinant form of the naturally occurring human protein Alpha-1 Antitrypsin for the treatment of a variety of inflammatory and immune-modulated diseases.

Omni Bio is largely a virtual company, with chief executive Bruce Schneider and other key players spread out in different locations. But the company last year moved its official headquarters from Greenwood Village to Fort Collins to place it nearer to the offices of its primary investors.

In March, the company disclosed that it was raising a $1 million round of convertible debt. Chief financial officer Jack Riccardi told BizWest at that time that the financing was a bridge round. He said the company was also in the process of trying to raise a larger round of between $6 million and $10 million to get the company’s recombinant molecules through preclinical development and a Phase 1 trial. From there, he said the company would seek sublicensure or a collaboration because Omni Bio didn’t have the production facilities to get a drug to market.

But those fundraising efforts appear to have fallen short.

Founded in 2009, Omni Bio had raised close to $10 million through the years, though it had also changed its focus over the last three years to developing the recombinant version of AAT.

FORT COLLINS – Officials for Omni Bio Pharmaceutical Inc., a spinoff of University of Colorado technology, disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange this week that the company will cease operations.

The filing stated that the Fort Collins-based company had been unsuccessful in raising funds and in its partnering and licensing efforts, making it unlikely that the firm could raise enough capital to continue operations.

“Consequently, the Board of Directors of the company has approved an orderly wind-down of the company, including negotiations with its senior secured creditor, Bohemian Investments, LLC,” the filing stated.

Officials for Omni Bio did not respond…

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