Viamet Pharmaceuticals Holdings, LLC, a Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based biopharmaceutical company, closed a $60m Series D financing.
Backers included Brandon Point Industries Limited, Woodford Investment Management, which joined current investors Novartis Venture Fund, Lilly Ventures, Hatteras Venture Partners, Intersouth Partners, Lurie Holdings and Astellas Venture Management. In conjunction with the financing, Robert Ingram, Partner at Hatteras Venture Partners and former CEO of GlaxoWellcome, and Kelly Martin, co-founder of Brandon Point and former CEO of Elan Corporation, plc, will join Viamet’s board of directors. Additionally, Adrian Howd, partner at Brandon Point, will join the board within six months of closing.
The company intends to use the funds to advance its pipeline of antifungal compounds, as well as to initiate new research programs supported by its Metallophile® platform.
Led by Robert Schotzinger, MD, PhD, President and CEO, Viamet focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel antifungal agents based on its proprietary metalloenzyme medicinal chemistry platform, the Metallophile® Technology. Metalloenzymes are enzymes that contain a metal, such as iron, zinc or copper, which is linked to the enzyme’s protein component. The company’s lead product candidate, VT-1161, is an oral agent in Phase 2b development for the treatment of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis, or RVVC, a highly prevalent mucosal infection for which there are no approved therapies in the United States, and onychomycosis, a common fungal infection of the nail for which current treatments are suboptimal with respect to safety, tolerability and efficacy. Additional product candidates in preclinical development include VT-1129, which is targeted for the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis, and VT-1598 and related analogues, which are targeted for the treatment of invasive fungal infections.
Concurrent with the closing of the financing, Viamet is spinning out its prostate cancer program to its existing investors as an independent company, to be named Innocrin Pharmaceuticals, which will be led by William Moore, PhD, who formerly served as Chief Scientific Officer of Viamet. Innocrin is currently studying its oral clinical-stage asset, VT-464, a novel dual lyase- selective CYP-17 inhibitor and androgen receptor antagonist, in multiple Phase 2 castration-resistant prostate cancer studies.
FinSMEs
21/10/2014