Industry: Biotechnology

Sector: Healthcare

MediciNova, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing novel and small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of serious diseases with unmet medical needs in the United States. It is developing MN-166 (ibudilast), an oral anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective agent for treating neurological and other disorders, such as primary and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, degenerative cervical myelopathy, glioblastoma, and substance dependence and addiction. The company's product pipeline also includes MN-221 (bedoradrine), a selective beta-2-adrenergic receptor agonist for the treatment of acute exacerbations of asthma; MN-001 (tipelukast), an orally bioavailable small molecule compound to treat fibrotic and other diseases, including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; and MN-029 (denibulin), a tubulin binding agent for treating solid tumor cancers. It has collaboration agreements with Kissei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd; Angiogene Pharmaceuticals Ltd.; and Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California.

MediciNova Inc is evaluated using Mavefund's quality framework: growing earnings, durable profit margins, conservative leverage, strong return on equity, and disciplined share repurchases.