BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OMEICOS Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class small molecule therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases including atrial fibrillation (AF), today announced that it has raised EUR 6.2 million in a Series A round. Participating in the round were Vesalius Biocapital II S.A. SICAR, acting as lead; a SMS Group Company; VC Fonds Technologie Berlin; Hightech Gruenderfonds II GmbH & Co. KG (HTGF); and KfW Group. As part of the financing round, the company has received subsidies of EUR 550,000 via Ascenion’s Spinnovator, a grant program supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
“The growing population of AF patients is faced with outdated and extremely limited medical treatment options. Current treatments have insufficient efficacy, risk of severe side effects, and are unable to reduce patient mortality,” said Dr. Robert Fischer, Chief Scientific Officer of OMEICOS Therapeutics. “We are grateful for the recognition from our investors that OMEICOS has the potential to develop truly novel drugs to prevent and treat severe cardiovascular diseases such as AF.”
The company’s novel therapeutic strategy is based on synthetic derivatives of natural metabolites of omega-3 fatty acids that have a strong antiarrhythmic effect. So far, approaches to make omega-3 fatty acids therapeutically effective have not been particularly successful due to the instability of their bioactive metabolites. OMEICOS has managed to overcome this hurdle by developing synthetic molecules that are equally potent as natural metabolites, but much more stable, making them suitable as orally available therapeutics.
Unlike other antiarrhythmic drugs, OMEICOS’ compounds activate an endogenous cardio-protective signaling pathway that stabilizes heart rhythm. In addition, the compounds are expected to provide curative effects to diseased hearts by preventing electrical and structural remodeling, a common cause of heart disease and sudden cardiac death. OMEICOS’ proprietary platform has high potential for further development in additional therapeutic indications in the cardiovascular area as well as in chronic inflammatory diseases.
“With their unique technology and seasoned team of experts, we believe that OMEICOS will fill the existing gap in AF treatment,” added Dr. Christian Schneider of Vesalius Biocapital Partners. “We are happy to support OMEICOS by leading such a strong syndicate of private and public investors and look forward to working with the company to advance its lead candidate through the pre-clinic into clinical development.”
Following the closing of the financing round, Christian Schneider and Gaston Matthyssens of Vesalius Biocapital Partners, Peter Seiler of SMS Group, Ute Mercker of VC Fonds Technologie Berlin, Martin Pfister of Hightech Gruenderfonds II GmbH & Co. KG, and co-founder Wolf-Hagen Schunck have joined the OMEICOS Supervisory Board.
About Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the
most common cardiac arrhythmia in humans. 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.
About OMEICOS
OMEICOS Therapeutics is a spin-off company
from the Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin,
co-founded and managed by Dr. Robert Fischer (Managing Director) and Dr.
Karen Uhlmann. The company is developing oral, first-in-class, small
molecules for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases,
initially focusing on AF. The company’s novel, small molecule AF therapy
is based on proprietary synthetic analogues of omega-3 fatty acid
metabolites. The technology was originally discovered and developed by a
research team under the supervision of Dr. Wolf Schunck and Dr. Dominik
Mueller at MDC and Dr. John R. Falck at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center. OMEICOS’ lead candidate is envisioned for
oral, once-daily treatment for patients with paroxysmal and persistent
AF, with and without structural heart disease, for maintenance of sinus
rhythm. www.omeicos.com
A German version of this press release is available at www.omeicos.com.
