OMEICOS Therapeutics Closes €17m Series C Financing
Advancing lead candidate towards pivotal trials
OMEICOS therapeutics, a Berlin-based biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class small molecule therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and ophthalmic diseases, announced the closing of a EUR 17 million (approx. USD 19.5 million) Series C financing led by new investor Forbion.
Existing investors Vesalius Biocapital II S.A. SICAR, Remiges BioPharma Fund, SMS Group GmbH, KFW Group, VC Fonds Technologie Berlin, High-Tech Gründerfonds II GmbH & Co. KG and The Falck Revocable Trust participated as well. The proceeds from this round will finance PROMISE-AF, a placebo controlled, double-blinded, randomized, dose finding Phase II study on OMT-28 in maintenance of sinus rhythm after electrical cardioversion in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation. Additionally, OMEICOS will continue to drive the expansion of its pipeline into novel indications including ophthalmology, led by its US-based subsidiary OMEICOS Ophthalmics.
“This financing arrives in a particularly exciting time for the OMEICOS team as we accelerate plans to initiate our Phase II study of OMT-28, OMEICOS’ novel safe rhythm stabilizer developed for patients with atrial fibrillation. The investment of Forbion confirms the excellent work of the entire team and supports our ambitious plans in atrial fibrillation and other indications,” commented Robert Fischer, MD, CEO/CSO of OMEICOS Therapeutics.
Holger Reithinger, Ph.D. General Partner at Forbion added: “We’ve been following the OMEICOS story for some time and are very positive about the progress. The unique concept of a novel treatment for atrial fibrillation together with the excellent safety data of OMT-28 convinced us to invest and support the future growth of the company.” Christian Schneider, Ph.D. Managing Partner at Vesalius Biocapital commented: “The addition of Forbion is another consequent step in the successful development of OMEICOS. The shareholders highly welcome Forbion’s commitment to join forces in order to accelerate the company’s development pipeline in indications with high unmet medical need.”
OMEICOS is developing first-in-class small molecule therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and ophthalmic diseases. The compounds are synthetic analogs of naturally occurring, but metabolically unstable, metabolites of omega-3 fatty acids that can activate anti-arrhythmic, cardio protective and anti-inflammatory pathways.
OMEICOS’ first-in-class small molecules can be administered orally and have shown improved biological activity and pharmacokinetic properties compared to their natural counterparts. Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of heart arrhythmia affecting an estimated 33.5 million people worldwide. Incidence is expected to increase over the next decade as life expectancy increases. The disease is associated with significant health risks and current therapies have limited efficacy and safety. OMEICOS Ophthalmics was established in Boston, MA, USA in August 2017 to focus on a clinical development program for OMEICOS’ ophthalmological drug indications. OMEICOS’ compounds are currently in preclinical development for macular edema disease, including wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy. New treatments for wet AMD are needed to reduce the burden of repeated, frequent injections of therapeutics into the eye, and to offer more convenient routes of administration.
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