Tranzyme

About Tranzyme

Tranzyme, Inc. was a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company established in 1998, with a primary focus on discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics for gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders. The company was founded in 1999, and in 2001, Vipin K. Garg, PhD, became the founding CEO. Under his leadership, Tranzyme advanced two products into clinical development and raised over $50 million. A significant corporate milestone occurred in December 2003 with the business combination with Neokimia Inc., a Canadian chemistry company, after which it was renamed Tranzyme Pharma Inc.

The company's business model was centered on its proprietary drug discovery technology, Macrocyclic Template Chemistry (MATCH™). This technology enabled the rapid creation of synthetic libraries of drug-like macrocyclic compounds, which aimed to combine the high potency and selectivity of large molecules with the oral availability and lower production costs of small molecule drugs. Tranzyme's revenue strategy involved both in-house drug development and strategic partnerships. A notable collaboration was with Bristol-Myers Squibb, which included a $10 million upfront payment and potential milestone payments of up to $80 million per target program. The company went public in April 2011, raising approximately $48 million in its initial public offering on the NASDAQ under the symbol TZYM, though it had to significantly reduce its share price to complete the offering.

Tranzyme's product pipeline included two main candidates for treating GI motility disorders. The lead product, ulimorelin (TZP-101), an intravenous ghrelin agonist, was in Phase 3 trials for acute, hospital-based conditions like post-operative ileus. The second product, TZP-102, an oral ghrelin agonist, was developed for chronic conditions such as diabetic gastroparesis. Despite some promising early data, the company faced significant setbacks when its lead drug, ulimorelin, failed in late-stage trials in the spring of 2012. This was followed by the failure of its backup program for TZP-102 in a Phase IIb study in November 2012, causing a major drop in the company's stock value. Following these clinical trial failures, Tranzyme began exploring strategic alternatives in early 2013 and ultimately entered into a reverse merger with the privately-held Ocera Therapeutics in July 2013. The combined entity was renamed Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. and shifted its focus to developing treatments for liver diseases, with headquarters moving to San Diego.