FerroKin rounds up $12M for iron overload treatment

With the help of investors Burrill & Company, Celgene, Clarus Ventures, MP Healthcare Venture Management and Healthcap Ventures, San Francisco-based FerroKin Biosciences has raised a $12 million round of financing. The company is developing FBS0701, a treatment for iron overload disease. The oral drug, an iron chelator indicated for transfusional iron overload, has been granted orphan drug designation by both the FDA and EMA. The developer has already completed three studies of the drug and plans to begin enrollment for a fourth trial later this year.

"We are very gratified with the interest generated by this financing and the support from current and new investors as we address the need for new treatments for iron overload," said Hugh Young Rienhoff, founder and CEO of FerroKin BioSciences. "This additional financing allows FerroKin to both expand and accelerate our development program for FBS0701, and further characterize the benefits of this promising molecule."

- here's FerroKin's release on the round