Clarus Ventures has led a $30 million Series B for Ophthotech, a biotech focused on developing new ophthalmic therapies for both wet and dry AMD. Existing investors SV Life Sciences, Novo A/S and HBM BioVentures all joined the venture round, which will be used to finance a mid-stage trial of Ophthotech's lead product candidate--an aptamer-targeting PDGF dubbed E10030--along with other development activities.
"In its Phase I combination therapy trial, E10030 has demonstrated unprecedented visual gain in patients with wet AMD. This remarkable visual outcome was accompanied for the first time by robust neovascular regression, reflecting the disruption of underlying pathology. E10030 has the potential of becoming a new standard for wet AMD treatment," said Samir Patel, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Ophthotech.
Patel has considerable experience in the field. He was the co-founder of Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, where he worked as the chief medical officer. Nicholas Galakatos, Ph.D., managing director of Clarus, is joining the developer's board. Ophthotek has offices in Princeton, NJ and New York.
- here's the Ophthotech's release for more about the company
ALSO: Switzerland's Molecular Partners raised $45 million in Series B money to pioneer DARPins as next-generation protein therapeutics. Essex Woodlands Health Ventures led the round. "It will allow us to take our lead program through early clinical development, as well as to progress our pre-clinical pipeline towards the clinic," said CEO Christian Zahnd. Release
PLUS: Switzerland's Evolva has added more than $15 million to its Series B. This brings the round to more than $42 million. Story