OMEICOS Therapeutics Announces First Closing Of €8.3 Million Series B Financing Round And The Initiation Of Phase 1 Clinical Trial

BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OMEICOS Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class small molecule therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, today announced the first closing of a Series B financing round of €8.3 million and the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial with lead compound OMT-28 for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. The financing was led by Vesalius Biocapital II S.A. SICAR and SMS Company Group, along with existing investors KFW Group, VC Fonds Technologie Berlin, High-Tech Gründerfonds II GmbH & Co. KG (HTGF), The Falck Revocable Trust, Ascenion GmbH and members of the management team. The funding will be used to support the newly initiated clinical program and to further leverage the therapeutic potential of the technology.

“The successful closing of the Series B financing round in combination with the initiation of the first clinical trial with our lead compound, OMT-28, marks the beginning of a new stage of corporate development for OMEICOS”

In addition to the financing, OMEICOS today announced the dosing of the first subject in the first-in-human clinical study for its lead candidate, OMT-28. The goal of the study is to evaluate safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of single and multiple ascending doses of OMT-28 in healthy volunteers. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1 study is being conducted in a single center in Germany and aims to enroll up to 100 subjects.

“The successful closing of the Series B financing round in combination with the initiation of the first clinical trial with our lead compound, OMT-28, marks the beginning of a new stage of corporate development for OMEICOS,” said Dr. Robert Fischer, CSO and co-founder of OMEICOS. “We are grateful for the ongoing support of our investors and anticipate this financing to fully fund the company throughout the duration of the Phase 1 clinical study, which will set the stage for a swift transition into a subsequent Phase 2 trial.”

“We believe in the potential of OMEICOS’ distinctive small molecules to treat atrial fibrillation and other inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases,” said Vesalius Biocapital’s Dr. Christian Schneider. “We look forward to seeing progress with the Phase 1 clinical trial and are pleased to continue and strengthen our financial investment in the company.”

OMEICOS’ lead compound, OMT-28, is a stable synthetic small molecule analog of the natural omega-3 fatty acid metabolite 17,18-EEQ, which has a structure optimized to provide high efficacy, safety and oral bioavailability. OMT-28 has already proven its anti-arrhythmic and cardioprotective potential in different in vivo experimental models. OMEICOS' synthetic analogs of omega-3 fatty acid epoxides are currently focused on cardiovascular diseases, although they have the potential to be applied across a wide range of diseases.

More information on the trial (Eudra-CT 2016-003445-28) will be provided via the European Union Clinical Trials Register.

About Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in humans. More than 30 million patients are affected worldwide and this number is increasing by 2% per year due to the aging population. AF is characterized by an irregular heart rhythm originating from the heart’s upper chambers, resulting in inefficient blood pumping. AF leads to a significant reduction in quality of life, increases the risk of stroke, raises the risk of heart failure and doubles the risk of death. Marketed anti-arrhythmic drugs have limited efficacy and often severe adverse effects, which together with the huge number of affected patients accounts for a high unmet medical need for a safe and efficacious medical treatment of AF.

About OMEICOS
OMEICOS Therapeutics is a spin-off company from the Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin. The company has discovered a series of metabolically robust synthetic analogues of omega-3 fatty acid-derived epoxyeicosanoids that have the potential to treat inflammatory, cardiovascular and other diseases. Epoxyeicosanoids, as a newly described class of bioactive lipid mediators, activate cell type-specific endogenous pathways that promote organ and tissue protection. OMEICOS’ small molecules are orally available and show improved biological activity and pharmacokinetic properties compared to their natural counterparts. OMEICOS’ technology is based on ground-breaking scientific results in the field of omega-3 fatty acid metabolism and physiology obtained by the companies’ founders, Dr. Wolf-Hagen Schunck, Prof. John. R. Falck, Prof. Dominik Müller and Dr. Robert Fischer. The companies’ research activities are supported by a grant from the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). www.omeicos.com

OMEICOS Therapeutics GmbH
Dr. Ulrich Dauer, +49 (0) 30 9489 4810
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
u.dauer@omeicos.com
or
Dr. Robert Fischer, +49 (0) 30 9489 4810
Chief Scientific Officer and Managing Director
r.fischer@omeicos.com
www.omeicos.com
or
Media requests:
MacDougall Biomedical Communications
Gretchen Schweitzer or Mario Brkulj, +49 (0) 89 2423 3494 or +49 175 5010575
mbrkulj@macbiocom.com

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