Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Waltham, MA-basedĀ developer of innovative ophthalmic products, completed a $22.5m Series B financing.
The round was led by new investor Ysios Capital with participation from a new strategic investor, as well as current investors Crown Venture Fund, Lux Capital, Polaris Partners and Third Rock Ventures. In conjunction with the financing, Karen Wagner, Ph.D., General Partner at Ysios Capital, will join Kala’s Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the funds to advance clinical development of its loteprednol etabonate MPP program.
Led by Guillaume Pfefer, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Kala will be initiating four clinical trials with LE-MPP in 2014:
– a Phase 3 trial in post-operative inflammation and pain following cataract surgery with 1% and 0.25% LE-MPP;
– a Phase 2 trial with 0.25% LE-MPP in dry eye disease;
– a Phase 2 trial with 0.25% LE-MPP in inflammatory meibomian gland disease (blepharitis); and
– an exploratory trial with 1% LE-MPP in diabetic macular edema and retinal vein occlusion to evaluate the ability to treat retinal diseases via topical administration.
The company also plans to advance its novel, small molecule receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (RTKi)-MPP for potential topical treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) toward candidate selection in 2014.
FinSMEs
23/04/2014