Ironbridge Capital founders Paul Evans and Greg Ruddock are back on the scene building up a new pharmaceuticals play, just as one of their previous success stories is getting shopped around.
Ironbridge got together with Archer Capital in December 2006 to snap up iNova Pharmaceuticals for an enterprise value of $450 million before selling it five years later for $700 million. US-listed Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which bought iNova and its suite of products including Difflam throat lozenges, is now trying to offload the company again.
Loyal Street Talk readers will know the Goldman-led sale process is really heating up, but the link to Evans and Ruddock's current story doesn't end there.
The pair have tapped veteran Andrew Howden (who was CEO of iNova under the funds' watch) to chair their new roll-up First Pharma, which markets over-the-counter medicines.
The company has already made its first acquisition, Luminarie, which has three products: a gel that stops nosebleeds, a skin cream for conditions like eczema and a gel treatment for the relief of chickenpox for children. They will be marketed alongside First Pharma's two products: a cream to reduce the appearance of some scars and a nail fungus treatment. Healthcare is not always glamourous, but it can certainly be lucrative.
