Novartis invests in Irish Upstart tackling Chronic Inflammation

inflammation knee

Dublin-based Inflazome has made a splashy debut by closing Series A with €15M. The company will use these funds to develop therapies targeting inflammasome-based chronic diseases.

inflazome-logoChronic inflammation might sound like a minor livable irritation, but it can be deadly. Think Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Lupus. It’s also one of the most lucrative fields in biotech: Humira, from AbbVie, was the number one selling biological in 2015.

There’s a newcomer to the chronic inflammation space, Dublin-based Inflazome. The biotech is developing orally available inhibitors or the inflammasome, which controls the immune response and plays a role in many diseases rooted in chronic inflammation, like Parkinson’s and Asthma.

Figure 1. Hands are a common site for arthritis.
Figure 1. Hands are a common site for arthritis.

Inflazome just closed a Series A financing round of €15M led by Novartis Venture Funds and Fountain Healthcare Partners. Novartis focuses on early-stage companies developing novel therapeutics and platforms and manages over €620M ($700M) in committed capital. Fountain is the smaller fish between the two with a €176M ($200M) fund, and it backs specialty pharma, devices, and tech.

Competition to bring treatments for inflammation to the market has heated up this summer. InflaRx, a German outfit, commenced a Phase II trial of an anti-complement antibody in June, though because it has a similar mechanism of action as the world’s most expensive drug (Soliris), it may be priced similarly. In July, Epidarex Capital and Selvita launched Nodthera, which targets inflammosomes just like Inflazome.


Featured Image: Stasique/Shutterstock.com
Figure 1: Hriana/Shutterstock.com

 

 

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