NightstaRx Raises $35M in Series B Financing

nightstaRxNightstaRx Ltd, a London, UK-based biopharmaceutical company specializing in developing gene therapies for inherited retinal dystrophies, raised $35m in Series B financing.

The round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from founding investor Syncona, an independent subsidiary of the Wellcome Trust. In conjunction with the round, David Mott, currently General Partner of NEA, joined the Board of Nightstar.

The company intends to use the funds to continue clinical development of its gene therapy for choroideremia* and advance multiple retinal gene therapy programs into human trials.

Led by David Fellows, CEO, Nightstar is advancing a gene therapy for an inherited form of progressive blindness, choroideremia, developed by Professor Robert MacLaren at Oxford’s Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology. Spun-out from the University of Oxford in 2014, the company has also expanded its pipeline with 5 further program licences from the University through its technology commercialization subsidiary, Isis Innovation.

*Choroideremia is an inherited X-linked recessive disease which inevitably causes blindness. It is caused by mutations to the CHM gene which encodes Rab-escort protein 1 and affects approximately 1 in 50,000 people. The first symptom of the condition is usually an impairment of night vision which often occurs in early childhood. This is followed by progressive narrowing of the field of vision, as well as a decrease in the ability to see details, culminating in blindness, most commonly in late adulthood. No effective treatment currently exists.

FinSMEs

10/11/2015

 

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