Promedior gains Dutch VC backing in $12M round

Malvern, PA-based Promedior has lined up a fresh $12 million injection of venture cash to get its lead drug into mid-stage trials for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. And the developer burnished its international strategy by getting the Dutch venture firm Forbion Capital Partners to lead the round. Morgenthaler Ventures, HealthCare Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners and Easton Capital all contributed to the round, which brings the biotech's venture backing to $27 million for the past year.

The developer says it now has the money to push PRM-151 into the proof-of-concept phase for fibrotic and inflammatory conditions of the eye, lung and kidney. The lead program recently wrapped a Phase I trial and obtained orphan drug status in Europe.

"The intention is that the financing will take us through 2011," Promedior CEO Dominick C. Colangelo tells FierceBiotech, at which point they should have proof of concept data in more than one area. At that point the company will have a much better idea about its partnering prospects and should have the ability to raise more funds if it needs to proceed into later-stage development work. Promedior, a spinoff from Trellis Bioscience, has 12 staffers on the payroll, and the CEO says that number is likely to grow somewhat as the developer ramps up its clinical research work.

"Promedior fits the ideal characteristics of a biopharmaceutical company pursuing first- or best-in-class drugs, and we believe the company is well positioned to develop novel drugs that will have a major impact in the treatment of inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. We are impressed by how quickly Promedior has built a highly promising pipeline of products that will be validated in the clinic using the proceeds of this financing round," said Geert-Jan Mulder, M.D., general partner at Forbion.

- here's Promedior's release