Proceeds will advance clinical development of PB2452, a potentially first-in-class reversal agent for patients on ticagrelor, and PB1046, a novel treatment for PAH
PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapies for orphan diseases, with an initial focus on cardiopulmonary disorders, today announced the completion of a $34 million Series D financing, including the conversion of existing convertible promissory notes.
New investors in the financing include Cormorant Asset Management, Rock Springs Capital and Mountain Group Partners. Existing investors New Enterprise Associates, Hatteras Venture Partners, AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Syno Capital and Fletcher Spaght Ventures also participated in the financing.
“PhaseBio has the potential to bring life-saving therapies to patients with orphan cardiopulmonary diseases. PB2452 addresses a growing unmet medical need for patients on ticagrelor who are experiencing a major bleeding event or who need urgent surgery,” said Clay B. Thorp, Executive Chairman of PhaseBio and General Partner of Hatteras Venture Partners. “In addition, with PB1046 and future product candidates based on our elastin-like polypeptide (“ELP”) technology, PhaseBio has the potential to build a significant pipeline in the orphan disease space.”
PhaseBio plans to use the proceeds from the Series D financing to advance the clinical development of its lead product candidate PB2452. PB2452 is a potentially first-in-class reversal agent for the antiplatelet drug ticagrelor that is being developed for the treatment of patients on ticagrelor who are experiencing a major bleeding event or who require urgent surgery, and is currently in a Phase 1 proof of concept study. Additionally, the company plans to initiate a Phase 2 clinical study of its ELP-based therapy PB1046 in pulmonary arterial hypertension (“PAH”) in the third quarter of 2018 and to explore additional indications for its half-life extending ELP technology platform.
“We are encouraged by the enthusiasm of our new and existing investors for the potential of our clinical programs and our proprietary ELP technology platform,” said Jonathan P. Mow, Chief Executive Officer of PhaseBio. “We look forward to the readout of data from the Phase 1 study of PB2452, exploring partnership opportunities for our drug products outside of the U.S. and dosing patients in the Phase 2 study of our second product candidate, PB1046, in patients with PAH shortly. In addition, we plan to continue to leverage our ELP technology to expand our development pipeline.”
Just this past February, PhaseBio was awarded a $2.8 million Fast Track Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support the clinical development of PB1046, a first-in-class, sustained-release vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) analogue, in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
About PhaseBio
PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for the treatment of orphan diseases. PhaseBio is leveraging its proprietary elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) biopolymer technology platform to develop therapies with the potential for less-frequent dosing and better patient compliance. PhaseBio’s lead development candidate, PB1046, is a first-in-class weekly vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) receptor agonist for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The company is also developing PB2452, a reversal agent for the antiplatelet therapy ticagrelor. PhaseBio is privately owned, with headquarters and research laboratories in Malvern, PA.
