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Nebulized drugs often require prolonged dosing protocols lasting many minutes, multiple times a day. It also involves a complicated device assembly and filling that is likely to reduce patient adherence and impact real-world efficacy
FREMONT, CA: Biotechnology company that focuses on developing drugs to improve the lives of patients with rare cardiopulmonary disease, Aerovate Therapeutics, Inc., secured USD 72.6 million in a Series A funding round to progress the trials of AV-101, an inhaled, dry powder aerosol version of imatinib that can be used in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The Series A investment round was led by Sofinnova Investments, a new investor in the company, with participation from Atlas Venture, Cormorant Asset Management, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), and Osage University Partners.
[vendor_logo_first]"Aerovate is a biotechnology company focused on developing drugs that meaningfully improve the lives of patients with rare cardiopulmonary disease. It is exciting to secure financing from such a strong syndicate to progress AV-101, our lead program," said Aerovate founding President Benjamin Dake, Ph.D. He noted that the financing would take AV-101 through a clinical efficacy read-out, with a registrational trial scheduled to begin during the first half of 2021 with PAH patients. "Sufferers of PAH desperately need a disease-modifying therapy," Dake added. The oral version of imatinib has shown significant efficacy in a phase 3 trial as a disease-modifying therapy for PAH. Still, it was poorly tolerated by PAH patients because of systemic side effects.
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AV-101 is an easy-to-use, proprietary dry powder formulation of imatinib that directly delivers the medicine to the lungs. This approach may decrease the systemic adverse effects that hampered the oral version in PAH trials. This becomes possible by reducing systemic exposure to the drug while simultaneously increasing the dose of medicine delivered directly to diseased lung tissues. The drug can be administered with a pure inhaler, a more convenient solution for patients than cumbersome nebulized drugs currently approved in PAH. Nebulized drugs often require prolonged dosing protocols lasting many minutes, multiple times a day. It also involves a complicated device assembly and filling that is likely to reduce patient adherence and impact real-world efficacy.
"With the support of the high caliber syndicate around the table, I believe Aerovate is poised to move this important treatment into the clinic immediately. This financing keeps the company on a rapid path towards offering this potentially transformational therapeutic to patients with real need," said RA Capital Managing Director and Aerovate Board Chair Joshua Resnick, MD. "AV-101 strives to provide PAH patients with the benefits of a disease modifying drug, in an easy-to-use format, free from the inconvenience of nebulized products, without the cancer-drug-like side effects of the oral version. This is extremely encouraging news for sufferers of this disease," said Resnick.
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