Firm will expand development of lead IPF candidate to include myelofibrosis therapy.

Fibrosis therapeutics firm Promedior yesterday reported raising $21.5 million in the first close of a Series D financing round led by new investor, Fibrotec Ventres. All of Promedior’s existing investors also participated. The firm plans to use the funds to progress its pipeline of pentraxin therapeutics, including PRM-151, a Phase I-stage recombinant human Pentraxin-2 (rhPTX-2) candidate for the treatment of rare systemic fibrotic diseases, and PRM-167, an rhPTX-2 intravitreal injection variant for the treatment of fibrovascular retinal diseases. Promedior separately reported that PRM-151 has been granted orphan drug designation by FDA for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the firm’s primary therapeutic indication for the candidate.

“This successful financing further validates Promedior’s scientific platform and clincial progress, as well as the tremendous therapeutic potential of our new class of Pentraxin-2 theraeptuics,” comments Dominick C. Colangelo, president and CEO. “Building on the success of our initial Phase I study, in which PRM-51 showed activity against biomarkers of disease in IPF patients, this financing allows us to aggressively advance the development of both PRM-151 and PRM-167.”

Promedior is focused on the development of drugs that act by specifically targeting the regulation of cells responsible for the initiation and progression of fibrosis—such as monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, and fibrocytes—precisely at the sites of injury. The firm’s initial products are based on the structure of pentraxin-2 (also called SAP), which it has says plays a critical role in targeting and regulating monocytes at sites of tissue damage.

Lead candidate PMR-151 is currently in early clinical development as a potential treatment for IPF, and Promedior says it now plans to expand development of the candidate to include the treatment of myelofibrosis. Phase II trials evaluating the recombinant protein are expected to start by year end. PRM-167 is currently in preclinical development for the potential treatment of eye diseases including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and proliferative vitreoretinopathy. 

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