Clementia Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Dorval, Quebec, Canada-based clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to the development and delivery of treatments for people living with rare diseases, closed a $22.5m Series A financing.
The round was led by OrbiMed Advisors with participation from existing investor BDC Venture Capital.
The company intends to use the funds for general operational purposes and to test its lead product candidate, palovarotene in clinical studies for the treatment of FOP.
To this end, Clementia had entered into an exclusive licensing agreement to acquire the global rights to palovarotene, a retinoic acid receptor gamma agonist (RARγ), from Roche Pharmaceuticals that it will develop for the treatment of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP), a rare and severely disabling disease characterized by spontaneous and recurrent episodes of heterotopic bone formation.
Roche originally developed palovarotene through Phase 2 clinical trials in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) but discontinued its development.
Founded by Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif and CEO Dr. Clarissa Desjardins, Clementia was originally funded by the BDC Venture Capital Healthcare Fund to complete licensing negotiations, market validation studies and prepare for the Series A round.
FinSMEs
10/01/2014