ONL Therapeutics, Inc.,, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for protecting the vision of patients with retinal disease, closed on its second tranche of its Series B financing. The total proceeds raised in the Series B was $46.9m.
The financing included lead investor Bios Partners; additional new investors Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Kaitai Capital, PSQ Capital, and Michigan Capital Network Venture Fund III; and continuing investors InFocus Capital Partners, ExSight Ventures, the University of Michigan’s Michigan Investment in New Technology Startups (MINTS) program, Western Michigan University’s Biosciences Research & Commercialization Center, and the Capital Community Angels.
Bios Partners, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Kaitai Capital, PSQ Capital, and Michigan Capital Network Venture Fund III; and continuing investors InFocus Capital Partners, ExSight Ventures, the University of Michigan’s Michigan Investment in New Technology Startups (MINTS) program, Western Michigan University’s Biosciences Research & Commercialization Center, and the Capital Community Angels
Led by David Esposito, Chief Executive Officer, and David Zacks, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, ONL Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to protecting and improving the vision of patients with retinal disease. By advancing technology designed to protect key retinal cells from Fas-mediated cell death, ONL is developing a platform of products for use in a wide range of blinding diseases, including retinal detachment, glaucoma, AMD and IRD.
ONL1204 is a novel, first-in-class small molecule Fas inhibitor designed to protect key retinal cells, including photoreceptors, from cell death that occurs in a range of retinal diseases and conditions. Death of these retinal cells, through both direct and inflammatory signaling pathways, is the root cause of vision loss and the leading cause of blindness. The company’s ONL1204 development program focused its first indication on the treatment of retinal detachment, a condition for which the compound has been granted orphan drug designation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ONL is also conducting a Phase 1b clinical trial in patients with geographic atrophy (GA) associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and a Phase 1b clinical trial in patients with progressing open-angle glaucoma. Preclinical work is ongoing to enable clinical trials in other disease indications, including inherited retinal degeneration (IRD; also known as retinitis pigmentosa). In addition, the company continues to advance a novel gene therapy approach for Fas inhibition.
FinSMEs
13/01/2022