Enobia grabs $50 million in third venture round

Montreal-based Enobia Pharma has turned to its existing VC investors to raise $50 million to finance development of an enzyme replacement therapy for the genetic bone disorder hypophosphatasia.

OrbiMed Advisors, CTI Life Sciences Fund of Montreal, the Fonds de Solidarite FTQ, Desjardins Venture Capital and Lothian Partners--which all chipped in on Enobia's $40.1 million (Canadian) Series B in the summer of 2007--came together again to back the company.

"Enobia and our collaborators have been enormously pleased by the early clinical results in infants with severe hypophosphatasia. We are fortunate to have the ongoing support of knowledgeable investors helping the company to advance the ENB-0040 development program," said Robert Heft, Ph.D., president and CEO of Enobia. "This new round of financing will provide the company with sufficient capital to fund our activities through the first half of 2011 and to reach important clinical and manufacturing milestones."

Six month safety and efficacy results of Enobia's Phase I/II study of ENB-0040 in infants with the severe form of HPP will be presented at the 31st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in September.

- check out the Enobia release

ALSO: BioAdvance, the Biotechnology Greenhouse Corporation of Southeastern Pennsylvania, had provided a $550,000 seed-stage investment in Treventis Corporation, an emerging life sciences company in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Release