Fibrotech Therapeutics receives investment funding from Brandon Capital Partners, MRCF and Uniseed to develop fibrosis drugs
Fibrotech Therapeutics Limited has secured $3 million investment funding to advance development of its lead fibrosis drug FT011 to completion of Phase Ib clinical trials. The company is developing novel drug candidates to treat the fibrosis prevalent in chronic conditions such as kidney disease, heart failure, pulmonary fibrosis and arthritis. Fibrotech’s proprietary compounds are novel analogues of tranilast (Rizaben®), a known anti-fibrotic agent which is off patent.
FT011 has been shown to be orally bioavailable and significantly inhibit the progression of renal fibrosis in a rat model of diabetic nephropathy. The initial indication being pursued by Fibrotech is late-stage diabetic nephropathy, the clinical outcome being delayed progression to end-stage renal disease.
Fibrotech will initially target a type of fibrosis called diabetic nephropathy which is a complication that arises in approximately 30 per cent of diabetics. Over 194 million people worldwide have diabetes and more than 57 million experience diabetic nephropathy as a complication. This is a chronic disease whose progression is characterised by a reduction in the ability of the kidney to filter waste from the blood, ultimately leading to kidney failure.
Fibrotech has also received a Type 1 Diabetes RAID Grant (Rapid Access to Interventional Development) from the US National Institute of Health (NIH).
Fibrotech Therapeutics was formed by Assoc Prof Darren Kelly of the Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne and St Vincent’s Hospital, with the support of Melbourne Ventures, the technology transfer company for the University of Melbourne. The funding is a Series A funding round from the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund, BBF1 IIF (both managed by Brandon Capital Partners) and Uniseed.
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