Chiasma's late-stage effort to develop an oral therapy to replace an injectable for acromegaly--an excess of growth hormone--has been rewarded with a $38.5 million injection, which should be enough to gain a set of Phase III data and get a second program into the clinic. And the D round is intended to pay for the final pieces needed for possible regulatory approvals.
Most of the money will be used to pay for the ongoing study of Octreolin, an oral version of the peptide octreotide, which is slated to wrap up in the second quarter of 2013. There's also additional cash earmarked for a small molecule program for "a complication of chronic kidney disease."
Abingworth and current investor MPM Capital led the round, which included contributions from 7 Med Health Ventures, Arch Venture Partners, F3 Ventures and Fredric Price, the biotech's chairman and CEO. The Israeli biotech says that if the Phase III data come up positive, it will file for U.S. and European approval later in 2013.
As Globes notes, Chiasma has had a long road. Founded 10 years ago, the biotech had to restructure in 2006, bringing in Price as chairman and CEO after stints at BioMarin and Omrix. The company then retooled and set off in a new direction. It has raised $91 million in venture cash.
"During the last year, Chiasma has made considerable progress as evidenced by the initiation of the Phase III clinical trial of Octreolin for acromegaly, the preparation for a second indication--neuroendocrine tumors--for Octreolin and the completion of the necessary preclinical studies for its next drug candidate, which is expected to enter the clinic in the current quarter for a complication of CKD," says Abingworth's Vincent Miles.
- read the press release
- here's the Globes story