Proteostasis Therapeutics has raised $37 million in new funding to develop its lead product candidate for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.
PTI has worked to develop a new class of CFTR regulators that are able to amplify the effect of the common CFTR modulators, such as potentiators and corrector amplifiers, for the treatment of CF. CFTR amplifiers are a novel drug class that is able to enhance the effect of potentiators and correctors. In preclinical studies, PTI has indicated that the amplifier that the company is currently developing was effective across several CFTR mutation classes. These previous results have led PTI to begin developing a broad-acting combination therapy that the company believes will be able to treat most of the genetic mutations associated with cystic fibrosis.
PTI’s financing was made possible by a mezzanine financing strategy in which the investors have the rights to convert to an ownership or equity interest in the company if the investment is not paid back in time. The lead investors in this project are Cormorant Asset Management and Rock Springs Capital Management but names such as New Enterprise Associates, Elan Science One, HealthCare Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences, Novartis Bioventures, Novartis Venture Fund, and Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures also participated in the financing. Leerink Partners LLC acted as the exclusive placement agent to the company for the offering.
