KalVista Pharmaceuticals, a Southampton, UK-based newly formed ophthalmology company with a focus on diabetic macular edema (DME), has raised £8m in a series A funding round.
Backers include Novo A/S and SV Life Sciences.
KalVista is developing novel plasma kallikrein inhibitors, which represents a new approach to the treatment of DME, a leading cause of adult visual loss in developed countries. The company has an advanced pre-clinical product pipeline and is targeting both intravitreal injection and oral administration.
It acquired these inhibitors and all relevant intellectual property from Vantia Therapeutics.
Founders include experts in diabetic retinopathy, Dr Lloyd Paul Aiello, Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Joslin’s Beetham Eye Institute, and Dr Edward Feener, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Joslin Diabetes Center.
The management team is led by CEO Andrew Crockett and includes the former discovery group from Vantia Therapeutics, which developed the extensive library of proprietary plasma kallikrein inhibitors, including the lead compounds that now form the basis of KalVista’s discovery platform.
KalVista’s board of directors will include Graham Boulnois of SV Life Sciences as Chairman, Martin Edwards of Novo A/S as Non-executive Director and Andrew Crockett.
FinSMEs
23/08/2011