Repros Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: RPRX), was a US-based development stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.
Founded in 1987 as Zonagen, it focused on the development of oral small molecule drugs to address major unmet medical needs in male and female health.
The company was organized on August 28, 1987 as Zonagen, to try to develop birth control methods based on modification of the zona pellucida—a part of the oocyte.
Her research, which had been progressing well, ground to a complete halt according to Brian Wallstin of the Houston Press newspaper in his article “Biological Disaster.”[2] The company, went public in 1993 with claims that a contraceptive vaccine was imminent.
However, unlike Pfizer, Zonagen repeated its experience from ImmuMax; it got a forty-year-old generic drug, phentolamine, dressed it up as something new, and acted as if it was a genuine Viagra competitor.
Previously, Podolski spent twelve years in various engineering, product development and manufacturing positions at G.D. Searle, a subsidiary of Monsanto Company.
In 2006, Zonagen changed its name to Repros Therapeutics, started to develop other pharmaceutical products for the reproductive system, and began work on its fourth lead drug, Proellex.