Inflazome closes a $17m Series A round from Novartis Venture Fund and Fountain Healthcare Partners to develop treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases
September 12, 2016 -- Dublin, Ireland -- Inflazome (inflazome.com) has successfully closed a Series A financing round for up to USD$17 million / €15 million. Two leading life sciences venture capital firms, Novartis Venture Funds and Fountain Healthcare Partners, co-led the financing.
Inflazome is developing inhibitors of the inflammasome, a compelling biological target that regulates our innate immune response, now associated with a wide variety of diseases. Following the closure of the financing round, Florent Gros (Managing Director of Novartis Venture Fund), and Dr Manus Rogan (Co-Founder and Managing Director at Fountain Healthcare Partners) joined the Board of Directors.
Commenting on the launch of Inflazome, Dr Matt Cooper, Co-Founder and CEO of Inflazome, stated “inflammasome activation is now implicated in many diseases driven by chronic inflammation, from Parkinson’s to Asthma. These conditions are often inadequately treated by current therapies. We want to help people with debilitating diseases facing limited or no treatment options.”
Prof. Luke O’Neill Co-Founder and CSO added, “animal models and clinical data suggests there is tremendous opportunity to stop the cycle of chronic inflammation in a range of diseases. We believe that targeting the inflammasome has tremendous potential for a wide range of inflammatory diseases where current treatments are inadequate.”
Dr Manus Rogan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Fountain Healthcare Partners said “Considering the breadth and depth of possible applications, the commercial potential for a successful small molecule inhibitor of this key target is clearly in the billions of dollars range.”
Florent Gros, Managing Director at Novartis Venture Fund said, “We have searched extensively for inhibitors of the inflammasome. We are very excited by Inflazome's prospects; the company has outstanding assets, expertise and capabilities.”
About Inflazome
Utilizing the scientific expertise of our founders and advisors, Inflazome is leading the way in developing orally available drugs to address clinical unmet needs in inflammatory diseases by targeting the inflammasome, which is now thought to drive many chronic inflammatory conditions.
Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Inflazome was founded by leading academics Prof. Matt Cooper, The University of Queensland (Australia) and Prof. Luke O’Neill Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), following a highly productive joint collaboration. Joining the founding management team as VP of Business Development is experienced industry executive, Dr. Jeremy Skillington, formerly of Genentech.
About Fountain Healthcare Partners
Fountain Healthcare Partners is a life science focused venture capital fund with €176 million ($200 million) under management. Within the life science sector, specific areas of interest to Fountain include specialty pharma, medical devices, biotechnology and diagnostics. The firm deploys the majority of its capital in Europe, with the balance in the United States. Fountain’s main office is in Dublin, Ireland, with a second office in New York.fh-partners.com
About The Novartis Venture Fund
The Novartis Venture Fund (NVF) manages over $700 million in committed capital. NVF invests in companies that have the potential to change a core therapeutic field or explore new business areas that will be critical to patient care. NVF’s primary interest is in the development of novel therapeutics and platforms as well as medical devices, diagnostics, and delivery systems. The Funds invest for financial objectives at all stages, but prefers to invest in the early-stages of company development. With investment professionals located in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, MA the team has extensive experience in pharmaceutical R&D and venture capital.nvfund.com
Founding investors are Fountain Healthcare Partners (Dublin, Ireland) and Novartis Venture Fund (Basel, Switzerland).
Contacts
Inflazome: Dr Jeremy Skillington | VP Business Development |j.skillington@inflazome.com
Media: Jonathan Neilan | F T I Consulting |jonathan.neilan@fticonsulting.com