Celtaxsys, a clinical stage drug development firm and ATDC Graduate Company, said it successfully completed its $40 million Series D financing. Domain Partners VIII led the financing and additional investors included Lumira Capital, RMI Partners, Masters Capital Management, and the Georgia Research Alliance Venture Fund.
The financing will be supplemented by a $5 million grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, the non-profit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. That grant will help fund Celtaxsys’s Phase 2 trial to assess the safety and efficacy of the company’s lead candidate, CTX-4430, a once-daily, oral anti-inflammatory medicine, in preserving lung function in cystic fibrosis patients. CTX-4430 has been granted Orphan Drug Designation in both the United States and the European Union.
“The proceeds from this financing, led by top-tier biotechnology investors, speaks to the investment community’s support for developing innovative anti-inflammatory medicines for patients diagnosed with orphan diseases,” Greg Duncan, Celtaxsys’ president and CEO said in a statement. “We believe CTX-4430’s ability to reduce neutrophil elastase in the airways of cystic fibrosis patients has the potential to preserve lung function in those patients, irrespective of patient-specific cystic fibrosis gene mutation.”
The Series D proceeds also will support the completion of an ongoing Phase 2 trial in patients with moderately severe acne vulgaris, with top line results expected by the end of Q1 2016.
Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening disease that affects the lung and digestive system. It affects about 70,000 patients worldwide. The disease is caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene, which causes the body to accumulate excessive levels of unusually thick mucus in the lungs.
Acne vulgaris, or simply acne, is an extremely common skin disease affecting an estimated 650 million worldwide. It is characterized by the proliferation of inflammatory and non-inflammatory skin lesions, hyperactive sebaceous glands, and in some cases, permanent skin scarring.