Sollievo Pharmaceuticals

Pharma Company Protecting Healthcare Workers

Company Information

Website:

https://www.startengine.com/sollievo-pharmaceuticals

Sector:

Pharmaceuticals / Drugs

Location:

San Juan Capistrano, CA

Sollievo Pharmaceuticals is on a mission to improve the safety of healthcare staff.

It’s developed Proviza, a fast-acting sedative intended to address the rising incidence of injuries and abuse to those treating agitated and aggressive patients. This drug will be part of the $1.2 billion market for intramuscular agitation and aggression treatments.

Proviza is a type of injectable benzodiazepine. These drugs entered the market in the 1960s and are used to relax and sedate patients. Yet there’s been little attention toward making these drugs more effective and universal.

In healthcare, sedating patients can be necessary to keep healthcare workers safe, which has become a growing problem. Violence against healthcare workers is itself a national health crisis. According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, seven out of ten emergency physicians report an increase in emergency department violence. Eighty percent of those surveyed cited an impact on patient care as a result.

Emergency room nurses are injured at a rate five times greater than other industries, and a quarter of psychiatric nurses experience disabling injuries from patient assaults at some point in their careers.

Bottom line: this type of violence is dangerous for staff, harmful for patients, and costly for hospitals. And Sollievo’s initial drug is intended to reduce this violence and protect both patients and frontline healthcare workers.

The company believes its Proviza can deliver the fastest-acting intramuscular sedative in its class. Research demonstrates it achieves peak concentration in a patient four times faster than the leading market solution, Lorazepam. (Lorazepam, sold under the brand name Ativan, is among the world’s top 100 most commonly prescribed medicines in the U.S., and is on the World Health Organization’s list of Essential Medicines.) Proviza also achieves a fifteen-fold reduction in patient-to-patient variability.

Sollievo’s proprietary technology is key to turbocharging Proviza’s absorption from the injection site. Avizafone, the active ingredient in the drug, is an extremely water-soluble drug. In contrast, other intramuscular injectable benzodiazepines are highly water-insoluble.

When injected into the muscle, insoluble drugs prefer the comfort of the muscle and fat tissue at the injection site. As a result, absorption from the muscle tissue is slow, leading to large patient variability in the blood and the onset of sedation.

Avizafone ignores the tissues surrounding the injection site, flying from the muscle into the bloodstream. There, it’s rapidly converted by natural enzymes to Diazepam, an FDA-approved, safe, effective benzodiazepine.

Another advantage of Proviza is it provides a useful duration of action, lasting between two to four hours. Lorazepam, in contrast, can last as long as eight hours, and interfere with additional treatment for the patient.

Since the start of 2022, six states have passed or initiated legislation intended to protect healthcare workers from workplace violence. The awareness of the need for solutions to this problem is an encouraging sign for Sollievo.

The company has two patent applications pending, one for the manufacturing process of the drug substance, and another for a method of use to treat acute agitation and aggression. Sollievo was granted fast-track examination of its method of use application by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and has engaged commercial and marketing advisors to best position Proviza for launch. Already, seventy-six percent of emergency physicians said they would prescribe Proviza as soon as it’s available.

Sollievo aims to begin clinical studies in November 2023, and submit a New Drug Application with the FDA in 2024. The company plans to bring its drug to market by fall 2025.

Team Background

Peter Schineller - Commercial Strategic Advisor

During his thirty-five-year career, Peter has held executive positions at leading pharmaceutical companies. These include Novartis, Abbott, and Pfizer.

He co-founded Veras Pharmaceuticals, and served as its Chief Operating Officer until the company was acquired by Novartis. Additionally, he was Senior Vice President with Ventana Medical Systems, a medical device company focused on oncology, as well as Senior Vice President with Alexza Pharmaceuticals.

In addition to his role with Sollievo, Peter is Managing Director of BioQuest, a staffing company for the healthcare sector. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History from Stony Brook University.

Robert Schultz - President & CEO

Robert has a forty-year career in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

Prior to starting Sollievo, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of REVA Medical, a medical device company creating solutions for coronary artery applications. Before that, he was Vice President of Product Development with Dura Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company.

Earlier in his career, Robert spent fourteen years with 3M, a manufacturing company making assorted goods. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy, and a Ph.D., from the University of Minnesota, as well as an MBA from the Jack Welch Management Institute.

Anthony Coniglio - Clinical Advisor

Anthony’s expertise includes commercial strategy and business development in the medical space.

For the past fifteen years, he’s been President and Founder of OPUS Pharma Consulting, a pharmaceutical consulting business focused on marketing and business development. Before that, he was Head of Business and Commercial Development with Antidote Therapeutics, a biotech research company.

Earlier in his career, he was Vice President of Business Development with MedPointe Pharmaceuticals, and before that was Executive Director of Marketing with Pharmacia, a pharmaceutical manufacturing business. He began his career spending fourteen years with Bristol-Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical company.

Anthony holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island and a Doctor of Pharmacy from the Medical College of Virginia School of Pharmacy.

Co-Investors

Raising
$1.07 million
Committed
$18.485K (2%)
Current Valuation
$20 million
Min. Investment
$400
Deal Type
Title III
(For all investors)
Offering Type
Equity
Finance History
Notable Investors
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