Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines for the treatment of viral infections, today announced it has closed on a $10.5 million Series A financing. Proceeds will be used to fund Phase 1 clinical development of SB 9200, a novel, orally available treatment for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and to further the preclinical pipeline. The Company plans to conduct a Phase 1 safety and antiviral efficacy study of SB 9200 in healthy, HCV-infected patients beginning in the first quarter of 2013. This financing was led by Brock Securities, LLC with participation from Gilford Securities.
"This financing represents a major milestone for SBP" said Douglas Jensen, CEO and Co-founder of Spring Bank, "as it will enable us to move SB 9200 through an important Phase 1 clinical study that will provide both safety and early antiviral activity data. SB 9200 is an entirely new agent for the treatment of chronic HCV infections and is based on our proprietary Small Molecule Nucleic Acid Hybrid (SMNH) technology platform. We thank our investors for their enthusiastic support and together we look forward to the initiation of our first clinical program and the advancement of our strong pipeline of additional SMNH programs for Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Respiratory Syncytial (RSV), Broad Spectrum Antiviral and COPD."
SB 9200 has a unique mechanism of antiviral action involving the selective activation of the host-immune response in HCV-infected cells. "Unlike other classes of drugs for HCV infection that act directly on the virus, SB 9200 targets host cytosolic sensor proteins, RIG-I and NOD2" states Dr. Kris Iver, CSO and Co-founder of Spring Bank. "This leads to the selective activation of the host immune response in the presence of viral infection. By virtue of this novel mechanism of action, SB 9200 is ideally suited for combination with other classes of HCV antivirals. In preclinical studies, SB 9200 has shown synergistic antiviral activity when combined with other anti-HCV compounds and has demonstrated an excellent safety profile. Moreover, this novel mechanism of action suggests if could have pan-genotypic activity, as well as potentially a high barrier to resistance. These attributes could potentially lead to the use of SB 9200 as part of an Interferon-free, all-oral regimen for HCV therapy."