Healthcare Industry News: S.A.
News Release - December 18, 2015
Navitor Pharmaceuticals Announces $33 Million Series B Financing
Proceeds Will Accelerate Advancement of Lead mTORC1 Modulator Program Into Clinical EvaluationCAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)--Navitor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines targeting the activation of mTORC1, today announced the completion of a $33 million Series B financing. Proceeds from the financing will be used to accelerate the development of Navitor’s pipeline of first-in-class selective modulators of the mTORC1 pathway that playS.A.key role in a range of chronic diS.A.es of aging as well as rare disorders. The Series B funding will enable Navitor to advance a lead program into clinical trials with the objective of demonstrating initial efficacy and safety. The company will also continue to develop additional pipeline candidateS.A.d augment its proprietary drug discovery platform.
The Series B round was led by new investor Brace Pharma Capital, LLC, a strategic investment company formed by EMS S.A., the largest pharmaceutical company in Brazil, and high net worth biotech investors, and includes participation by new investors Remeditex Ventures, Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures, and an undisclosed individual investor. Existing investors Polaris Partners, Atlas Venture, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. and SR One, Ltd. also participated in the financing.
“We are excited to welcome three exceptional new investors to our syndicate and have the continued support of our existing key investor group. We believe this financing reflects excitement for our innovative therapeutic approach of selectively targeting mTORC1 and recognizes our significant progress over the past year in advancing our lead S.A.l molecule programs,” said George P. Vlasuk, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Navitor. “As we move forward with discovering first-in-class medicines, we are delivering on our mission to create next generation therapies that significantly improve the lives of patientS.A.fected by chronic diS.A.es of aging and other disorderS.A.sociated with dysregulation of mTORC1 activation. The additional capital from this financing gives Navitor the neceS.A.y resources to advance our drug discovery efforts toward the demonstration of clinical efficacy.”
The Series B financing will enable the advancement of Navitor’s pipeline of novel drug compounds that target the mTORC1 activation pathway towards the demonstration of clinical efficacy and safety, opening up the potential for expanded therapeutic opportunities characterized by mTORC1 dysregulation that are currently underserved by available treatments. The pipeline includes novel therapeutics that have the potential to either “turn up” or “turn down” nutrient and growth factor-responsive cellular pathways to restore normal mTORC1 function. By selectively targeting and controlling aberrant cellular signaling mediated by the mTORC1 pathway, Navitor’s therapeuticS.A.e designed to rebalance these signalS.A.d restore normal function and impact the underlying biology of multiple diS.A.es that are the result of mTORC1 dysregulation, including metabolic, neurodegenerative, immune/autoimmune and musculoskeletal diS.A.es, as well as several rare disorders.
In conjunction with the financing, Vinzenz Ploerer, President & CEO of Brace Pharma Capital, will join the Navitor Board of Directors. Mr. Ploerer S.A.ed “Navitor haS.A.sembled an outS.A.ding team and is executing a sound strategy that has yielded promising resultS.A.ainst multiple unprecedented targets leading to the dysregulation of mTORC1 activity.”
Raymond Schinazi, PhD, DSc, the Founder of Pharmasset and a member of both the Board of DirectorS.A.d the Scientific Advisory Board of Brace Pharma Capital, commented further “Selective modulation of mTORC1 activation has the potential to generate first-in-class innovative therapeutics for multiple indications with significant unmet need. Navitor haS.A.sembled a world-class team that has the experience and vision to create tremendous value for patients.”
Barry Burgdorf, Chief Operating Officer of Remeditex Ventures, who will also join the Navitor Board of Directors, added “Remeditex invests in biotech companies that are hard at work on advancing breakthrough science with the promise to alleviate major health burdenS.A.d which are led by a management team of vision and creativity. Navitor matches this profile completely.”
About mTORC1
The mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) kinase exists in two multi-protein complexes within the cell, called mTORC1 and mTORC2. Both complexeS.A.e critical signaling nodes that regulate multiple cellular functions including metabolism, growth and response to changes in the cell’s environment. mTORC1 responds to and integrates the cell’s response to nutrient availability and growth factorS.A.d playS.A.key role in protein synthesiS.A.d cellular growth. AS.A.critical regulatory pathway, mTORC1 is often dysregulated in multiple diS.A.eS.A.ross several important therapeutic areas. While several approved drugs (rapamycin and related allosteric mTORC1 inhibitors) target the broad mTOR pathway for certain specific diS.A.e applications, the use of these first generation drugs has been limited since they inhibit both mTORC1 and mTORC2, leading to undesirable side effects when used chronically. Navitor’s therapeuticS.A.e designed to selectively modulate the cellular signals that are aberrant in diS.A.e processes caused by the dysregulation of mTORC1 activity without inhibiting mTORC2.
About Navitor
Navitor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., iS.A.biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines by targeting cellular nutrient signaling pathways. The company’s proprietary drug discovery platform targets mTORC1, which responds to and integrates the cell’s response to nutrient availability and playS.A.key role in protein synthesiS.A.d cellular growth. Navitor’s therapeuticS.A.e designed to selectively modulate the cellular signals that are aberrant in diS.A.e processes caused by the dysregulation of mTORC1 activation to addresS.A.wide range of diS.A.es, including metabolic, neurodegenerative, autoimmune and musculoskeletal diS.A.es, as well aS.A.e-related immune suppression and several rare disorders. The company’s founding intellectual property is based on the groundbreaking discoveries related to the mTORC1 pathway and nutrient signaling mechanisms by Dr. David Sabatini at The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical ReS.A.ch. The company is backed by leading financial and corporate investors, including Polaris Partners, Atlas Venture, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., SR One, Ltd., Brace Pharma Capital, Remeditex VentureS.A.d Sanofi-Genzyme Bioventures. For more information, please visit www.navitorpharma.com.
Source: Navitor Pharmaceuticals
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