BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Edgewise Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing orally bioavailable, small molecule therapies for musculoskeletal diseases, today announced the closing of a $95 million Series C preferred stock financing led by Viking Global Investors. Additional new institutional investors participating in the financing included Janus Henderson Investors, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), RA Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, Logos Capital and Wellington Management. All of the company’s existing investors, OrbiMed, Novo Holdings, US Venture Partners (USVP), Deerfield Management, New Leaf Ventures and CureDuchenne Ventures, also participated in the offering. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance clinical development of Edgewise’s lead drug candidate, EDG-5506, for Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), as well as the company’s other rare disease programs. The proceeds will also support potential future in-licensing opportunities and clinical collaborations in rare diseases.
“We are delighted to partner with this distinguished group of investors as we advance our drug pipeline,” said Kevin Koch, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Edgewise. “We are excited about the potential of EDG-5506 for patients affected by BMD and DMD, who are currently underserved with limited treatment options.”
“We are impressed with the passion and commitment the Edgewise team brings to our important muscular dystrophy and other rare disease programs,” said Peter Thompson, M.D., Chairman of the Board of Directors and Co-Founder at Edgewise and Partner at OrbiMed. “We are thrilled to have such a strong syndicate supporting us through the company's next phase of growth.”
About EDG-5506 for BMD and DMD
EDG-5506, is an orally administered small molecule designed to address the root cause of dystrophinopathies including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). EDG-5506 presents a novel mechanism of action to selectively limit injurious hypercontraction stress caused by the absence of functional dystrophin. EDG-5506 has the potential to benefit a broad range of patients suffering from debilitating rare neuromuscular disorders. It can be used as a single agent therapy but it may also provide a synergistic or additive effect in combination with available therapies and therapies currently in development.
EDG-5506 is currently advancing in a Phase 1 randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, Single and Multiple Ascending Dose (SAD and MAD) trial. The study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics of EDG-5506 in adult healthy volunteers and adults with BMD. The study will enroll adult patients with BMD following appropriate safety, tolerability and PK results of EDG-5506 in healthy volunteers. To learn more about this study (NCT04585464), go to clinicaltrials.gov.
About Muscular Dystrophy
Muscular dystrophies are a group of genetic disorders associated with defects in the critical muscle-associated structural protein dystrophin or the sarcomere complex and are characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. In individuals with neuromuscular conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, normal muscle use leads to continued rounds of muscle breakdown that the body struggles to repair. Overtime fibrosis and fatty tissue accumulate in the muscle portending a steep decline and permanent loss of physical function that ends with mortality. There remains an unmet need for treatments that reduce muscle breakdown in patients with neuromuscular conditions. Arresting this amplified muscle response will have a dramatic effect on disease progression.
About Edgewise Therapeutics
Edgewise Therapeutics, founded in 2017 by Alan Russell, Ph.D., Peter Thompson, M.D. (OrbiMed) and Badreddin Edris, Ph.D., (SpringWorks Therapeutics, Inc.), is dedicated to the development of first-in-class medicines for the treatment of high morbidity musculoskeletal diseases. Skeletal muscle is the largest organ system in the human body, regulating both force production to enable muscle contraction, locomotion, and postural maintenance and the metabolism of glucose, and fatty and amino acids. By modulating these processes in skeletal muscle, Edgewise Therapeutics is aiming to create therapeutic agents that will reduce muscle damage, normalize muscle function, decrease mortality and profoundly benefit patients’ quality of life. To learn more, go to: www.edgewisetx.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
