An international group of VC outfits is backing CoDa Therapeutics with a $19 million Series B designed to finance an ambitious Phase II study of a lead drug for wound healing. Domain Associates, GBS Venture Partners and BioPacificVentures all participated in the round, which CoDa believes will be expanded as additional investors move in to back the developer. CoDa has facilities in San Diego and New Zealand, where it obtained the rights to some of the original science it used to found the biotech.
CoDa says it has already completed a 98-patient study of its wound-healing treatment, NexaGon, which uses an unmodified antisense oligonucleotide to tamp down on the body's inflammatory responses. Investigators reported that close to a third of the patients with venous leg ulcers in the drug arm saw their wounds healed in a matter of weeks, compared to six percent of the placebo arm. Now CoDa is laying plans for a much larger Phase II study.
"We see CoDa as a good example of today's preferred biotech enterprise, bringing together excellent science, an experienced management team, a solid value proposition, a clear execution path and addressing a global unmet medical need," added Dr. James Blair, a Domain Associates Partner. The company says this next Phase II study will recruit patients in the U.S., New Zealand and Australia.
- see the CoDa release
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