Cash to aid Slate's push for testosterone pellet

Slate Pharmaceuticals, a Durham company that pursues hormone replacement therapies, has raised about $5 million from private investors to boost sales of a testosterone pellet that is implanted under the skin.

Testopel is the first building block to establish Slate, said Bob Whitehead, the company's chief executive.

Aimed at men who suffer from testosterone deficiency, Testopel is more convenient than other testosterone products, because it requires only two to three doctor visits a year, Whitehead said. In 2004 and 2005, he was an executive at Auxilium, a Philadelphia drug maker that markets a testosterone cream.

In September, Whitehead started Slate in Durham and then bought the rights to sell Testopel. The testosterone pellet was previously marketed by Bartor Pharmacal of Rye, N.Y. Frank Bardani, Bartor's president, was not available for comment.

Slate has about 20 employees, half of them in Durham.

The Triangle's existing biotech industry and the local labor pool made the area perfect for starting a specialty pharmaceutical company, Whitehead said.

The cash infusion will allow the company to hire, he said. But he declined to say how many people he is recruiting and in what capacity.

Slate raised the $5 million from 34 investors nationwide, according to filings with the state securities office.