(Source: Business Wire)
Alnara Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing
non-systemic, orally-delivered protein therapeutics for the treatment of
metabolic diseases, announced today that it has secured $35 million in
Series B venture capital financing. The round was led by new investor
MPM Capital, joined by current investors Third Rock Ventures, Frazier
Healthcare and Bessemer Venture Partners. In conjunction with the MPM
investment, managing director Ashley Dombkowski, Ph.D., will join
Alnara's board of directors.
"We are delighted to welcome both MPM as an investor and Ashley as a
board member and we are grateful for the continued support from our
existing investors," stated Alexey Margolin, Ph.D., chief executive
officer of Alnara. "This financing serves as an important external
validation of the significant market opportunity for liprotamase and our
pre-clinical platform, and provides us with the resources to expand our
commercialization efforts in the rapidly growing pancreatic enzyme
replacement therapy (PERT) market. This is going to be a very exciting
year for Alnara, and we remain on track to file a new drug application
(NDA) for liprotamase with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the
first quarter of this year."
"I am honored to join the Alnara board," stated Dr. Dombkowski. "This
round of funding increases financial flexibility for Alnara as the
company prepares to commercialize liprotamase. As a recombinant product
with positive long-term safety and nutritionally relevant data,
liprotamase helps to address many of the unmet needs in this dynamic
therapeutic area. This strong product profile, combined with the NDA
filing planned for this quarter, positions Alnara on the cusp of
significant value creation opportunities."
Rich Aldrich, chairman of the board of Alnara commented, "We believe the
regulatory approval and launch of liprotamase as a non-porcine PERT will
represent a new paradigm in the treatment of pancreatic insufficiency.
Over the last year, Alnara has transformed from a start-up company to a
leader in protein therapeutics preparing to commercialize a potentially
breakthrough product in liprotamase. Alexey and his team have done a
phenomenal job advancing the development program for liprotamase and
continuing the collaboration with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Therapeutics, Inc.