Pneumagen Raises £3.8M in Funding

healthcare

Pneumagen, a St. Andrews, Scotland, UK-based clinical stage biotech company developing Neumifil, a pan-antiviral, intranasal drug for the prophylaxis and treatment of viral respiratory tract infections (RTIs), raised a further £3.8m in funding.

The round was co-led by existing investors Thairm Bio and Scottish Enterprise.

The company intends to use the funds to advance clinical development and manufacturing of its lead product Neumifil. The round, which brings total capital secured to date by Pneumagen to circa £14m, will enable the company to:

  • Advance further development of Neumifil into Phase II. An influenza controlled human challenge study will be conducted by hVIVO, a subsidiary of Open Orphan plc, a world leader in the testing of antivirals using human challenge study models. The study will be conducted in the United Kingdom and is planned to commence in the second half of 2022
  • Conduct further GMP manufacturing by FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, a contract development and manufacturing organization and one of the world’s most renowned, high quality manufacturing companies
  • Conclude extended GLP toxicology studies to support the Phase II programme

Led by Douglas Thomson, CEO, Pneumagen is a clinical- stage biotech company developing Neumifil, its lead product, as an intranasal drug for the prophylaxis and treatment of a broad range of viral respiratory tract infections (RTIs).

Neumifil is a novel, engineered multivalent Carbohydrate Binding Molecule (mCBM), which is being developed for the universal treatment of Influenza Virus (IFV), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and coronavirus infections including COVID-19. Neumifil acts by directly binding and preventing the entry of the viral pathogens into the lungs with reduced susceptibility to direct viral resistance. Neumifil was generated using Pneumagen’s proprietary GlycoTarge™ technology that acts by stopping viruses at the site of infection, reducing their ability both to enter cells and to migrate to the lungs. In addition to Neumifil, Pneumagen is harnessing its GlycoTarge™platform to enable the development of a pipeline of intranasal therapies targeting other infectious lung diseases.

FinSMEs

19/01/2022