Pfizer Spins Off Esperion

Not many A-round startups can say they were once worth $1B. One that can is Esperion Therapeutics, which drug giant Pfizer Inc. (PFE) said Thursday morning it will spin out as a privately held company. It's not entirely unexpected: Pfizer announced it would shut down the site, operating in Ann Arbor, Mich., as a standalone research unit more than a year ago as part of laying roughly 2,500 employees.

A syndicate of VCs--Aisling Capital, Alta Partners and Domain Associates and Arboretum Ventures--have cobbled together a $22.75 million first-round round investment in Esperion, with Pfizer retaining an undisclosed stake.

Whatever Esperion is worth, it's not $1.3 billion, which is what Pfizer paid for the company in 2003 with hopes that its lead drug, a "good cholesterol" treatment, would produce a blockbuster sequel to Lipitor. For good reason: Esperion founder Roger Newton co-discovered Lipitor, the $13 billion a year drug that has been Pfizer's cash cow for so many years but will soon go off-patent.