Ophthotech Corporation, a New York-based biopharmaceutical company focusing on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of major ophthalmic diseases, raised $175m in financing.
The transaction consists of $125m from Novo A/S, in exchange for royalties on the company’s Fovista sales. The remaining $50m is in the form of a Series C financing from Novo A/S and existing venture investors (SV Life Sciences, Novo Ventures, HBM Healthcare Investments, and Clarus Ventures). According to a written note, the royalty and Series C funding is structured in three equal tranches, the first of which has closed.
The company intends to use the proceeds to finance a global Phase 3 clinical program of its lead compound FovistaTM, an anti-platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), in combination with anti-VEGF therapy for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD). The multi-national Phase 3 trial is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2013 and enroll nearly 1,900 patients in more than 200 centers worldwide.
To accelerate the clinical development of Fovista, Ophthotech added David R. Guyer, MD, the company’s Chairman of the Board, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Samir Patel, MD, co-founder and current President of Ophthotech, as Vice Chairman of the Board.
Under the new management structure, Dr. Guyer will direct the corporate and financial strategy, while Dr. Patel will focus fully on clinical development.
In addition to Fovista, the company’s pipeline includes an anti-C5 agent, ARC1905, an inhibitor of factor C5 of the complement cascade being developed for the treatment of wet and dry AMD.
Ophthotech also has offices in Princeton, NJ.
FinSMEs
29/05/2013