REYKJAVIK, Iceland– EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on a novel barrier enhancing approach to the treatment of chronic inflammatory airway diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), announces the closing of a €20m Series A financing round led by Flerie Invest and Iðunn Venture Fund, with existing investors ABC Ventures participating, along with the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund joining the round. The financing secures funds to advance clinical development of EpiEndo’s lead compound EP395, which entered phase I clinical trials in April, through Phase IIa, targeting COPD as a primary indication. EpiEndo’s development rationale is based on a newly acknowledged therapeutic paradigm, that loss of integrity of epithelial barriers plays a critical role in propagating chronic inflammatory diseases in lungs and contributes to vulnerability to infections associated with acute exacerbations of airway diseases.
“I am delighted to announce the closing of this new investment round,” commented Maria Bech, CEO of EpiEndo Pharma. “We are very pleased to welcome such well-reputed investors as Flerie Invest and Iðunn Venture Fund to help us build our company and are honoured that the European Innovation Council Fund has chosen EpiEndo as its first follow-on investment. We are also grateful for the continued support of our existing investors. This financing is a major step for EpiEndo, not only funding our lead compound through clinical development in patients with COPD, but also enabling exploration of other important potential therapeutic application areas such as dermatology and gastrointestinal disorders, where compromised epithelial integrity is known to contribute to disease pathophysiology.”
Macrolide antibiotics such as azithromycin have been known for decades to exhibit good disease modifying efficacy against many chronic inflammatory airway diseases in addition to their antibacterial properties, in which their long-term use reduces the frequency and severity of inflammatory flare-ups and exacerbations. Although beneficial for overall health and prognosis, their off-label use in these patient populations has led to the emergence of macrolide resistance in the host flora.
EpiEndo’s lead compound EP395 is a new chemical entity in which the epithelial regenerative properties and anti-inflammatory effects seen with macrolides have been augmented, and the anti-bacterial properties removed. Using this Series A funding, EpiEndo aims to advance the clinical development of EP395 towards approval as the first disease modifying non-antibiotic macrolide that can be prescribed safely and effectively as a long-term treatment for patients with COPD.
“We have followed EpiEndo for some time and have seen impressive progress towards clinical phase of their lead compound EP 395. We are proud to take part in their continuing journey with the aim to deliver substantially improved treatment of COPD,” said Carl-Johan Spak, Senior Advisor at Flerie Invest.
“EpiEndo is an attractive investment opportunity for Iðunn and a good fit for our fund’s investment strategy. We are looking forward to work with the company in the coming years to develop its lead candidate through the coming clinical phases. It is important for Iðunn to participate in the translation of new scientific discovery into clinical practice,” commented Hilmar Bragi Janusson, Managing Director of Iðunn Venture Fund.
“ABC is thrilled to obtain, in this round, a group of new investors to co-lead with us and support EpiEndo´s quest to create a solution to some of the most problematic diseases,” commented Ivar Gudjonsson, Managing Director of ABC Venture and a board member of EpiEndo.
“EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals’ challenge is to develop a new class of drugs and we are delighted to take part in this scale up journey,” said José Fernando Figueiredo, EIC Fund Investment Committee member, “The EIC Fund is taking part in this financial round to help this great example of a life science company to develop and deploy breakthrough treatment of chronic obstructive inflammatory pulmonary disease.”
