MALVERN, Pa.—Promedior Inc., a clinical-stage biotechcompany focusing on novel biologic therapeutics for fibroproliferativediseases, announced that it has netted $21.5 million in a first closing of aSeries D financing round. Fibrotec Ventures, LLC, a new investor, led thefinancing, and all of Promedior's existing investors participated, includingHealthCare Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, EastonCapital Investment Group and Forbion Capital Partners. As part of thefinancing, Hanns A. Pielenz, President of Fibrotec Ventures, LLC, will joinPromedior's board of directors. This latest round brings Promedior's totalcapital raised to $62 million, and the financing will be used to advance thecompany's Pentraxin-2 therapeutics.
"This successful financing further validatesPromedior's scientific platform and clinical progress, as well as thetremendous therapeutic potential of our new class of Pentraxin-2 therapeutics,"Dominick C. Colangelo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Promedior, saidin a press release. "Building on the success of our initial Phase 1 study, inwhich PRM-151 showed activity against biomarkers of disease in IPF patients,this financing allows us to aggressively advance the development of bothPRM-151 and PRM-167 for patients who are in critical need of effectivetherapies for the treatment of fibrovascular diseases."
Promedior's lead drug candidate, PRM-151 (recombinant humanPentraxin-2 (rhPTX-2)), is intended for rare systemic fibrotic diseases, andthe company is expanding its clinical development to include myelofibrosis,with a Phase II clinical study expected to begin near the end of this year. Thecandidate is currently being examined in a Phase Ib clinical study in patientswith idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis to determine safety, tolerability andbiological activity on exploratory pharmacodynamic and prognostic biomarkers ofidiopathic pulmonary fibrosis progression. The financing from the Series Dround will also aid in the advancement of PRM-167 (rhPTX-2 variant forintravitreal injection), Promedior's lead candidate for ophthalmic indications.The drug candidate is currently being developed for fibrovascular retinaldisease indications such as age-related macular degeneration, diabeticretinopathy and proliferative vitreoretinopathy.
The company's drugs are based on the structure ofpentraxin-2, a naturally occurring protein that has proven to play a role intargeting monocytes at sites of tissue damage. Promedior focuses on leveragingthe natural function of the protein to regulate immune and inflammatoryprocesses in the body. Its therapeutics have been tested and have shownpotential in treating fibrovascular diseases in all major tissue types,including lung, heart, eye, liver and kidney, among others.
"We believe that Promedior's platform has the potential torevolutionize the treatment of a number of serious fibrovascular diseases,including diseases for which there are no FDA-approved treatments. Thisfinancing will enable Promedior to build on its strong scientific and clinicalplatform and to further validate the clinical efficacy of Pentraxin-2 therapiesfor the treatment of fibrosis," Pielenz said in a press release. "We are verypleased to be joining this extraordinary team of management, advisors andinvestors, and we look forward to supporting the efforts of Promedior to bringsuccessfully much needed therapeutics to patients with diseases such asmyelofibrosis, IPF and retinal diseases."
SOURCE: Promedior Inc. press release
