WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nocion Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has raised $62 million in Series B funding. Nocion is developing first and potentially best in class, small molecule, permanently charged sodium channel blockers (CSCBs), called nocions, that selectively silence activated nociceptors for the treatment of serious conditions involving cough, itch, and pain. Proceeds from the financing will be used to evaluate the lead program, Taplucanium Dry Powder for Inhalation, in a Phase 2b study in Chronic Cough patients.
The Series B financing was led by Arkin Bio Capital and Monograph Capital, with participation from additional new investors as well as existing investors Canaan Partners, F-Prime Capital, Mass General Brigham Ventures, Mission BioCapital and Osage University Partners. With this financing, Nocion has raised $122 million since the company was founded in 2018.
“We are grateful to our new and existing investors for their commitment to our lead program in this challenging disease,” said Dr. Richard Batycky, Chief Executive Officer of Nocion. “This financing will enable us to evaluate Taplucanium in patients suffering from Chronic Cough. We will also be able to conduct additional toxicology and product development activities with an eye towards being ready for Phase 3 clinical trials.”
In conjunction with the Series B financing, Pini Orbach, Ph.D., of Arkin Bio Capital and Freddie Dear of Monograph Capital will join Nocion’s Board of Directors.
“There is a real need for novel treatments beyond P2X3 antagonists and we believe that Nocion’s inhaled Taplucanium has the potential to become a novel treatment modality for refractory chronic cough patients,” said Dr. Pini Orbach, Head of Pharma at Arkin Bio Capital.
“Beyond the clear unmet need and novel mechanism of action of Taplucanium, we saw this financing as an opportunity to partner with a great management team, like-minded sophisticated co-investors including a strategic equity partner with a wealth of knowledge in inhaled respiratory therapeutic drug development, and a clinical trials partner with direct experience in running the clinical studies required in this disease. All in all, maximizing the chances for success,” said Freddie Dear, Principal at Monograph Capital.
ABOUT COUGH
Chronic Cough is cough lasting more than eight weeks and is associated with significant, debilitating physical, social and psychosocial impact. It is estimated that approximately 26 million adults in the United States suffer from Chronic Cough, of which 8 million suffer from refractory or unexplained Chronic Cough, for which there are currently no approved pharmacological treatments available.
Acute Cough is cough lasting less than eight weeks and is one of the most common ailments for which patients seek medical treatment, accounting for approximately 21 million patients annually in the US. Of these, approximately 17 million can be attributed to acute viral or post-viral cough. Additionally, cough is one of the most common symptoms associated with COVID-19.
ABOUT TAPLUCANIUM
Taplucanium (formerly NTX-1175) Dry Powder for Inhalation is a proprietary molecule in the novel class of CSCBs that allows for specific silencing of activated/inflamed nociceptors while having minimal local off-target effects or systemic exposure. Unlike other investigative cough therapies, such as P2X3 antagonists which target a specific Large Pore Channel (LPC), Taplucanium gains access to the nociceptor through any open LPC whereupon it inhibits the sodium channels responsible for initiating the pathological cough response. This broad mechanism has shown significant antitussive effects in preclinical models of cough. Combined with good preliminary safety and efficacy data from earlier stage clinical work, this forms the basis for its use in cough indications beyond Chronic Cough.
ABOUT NOCION
Nocion Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule CSCBs, “nocions,” that selectively affect actively firing nociceptors for the treatment of serious conditions involving cough, itch, and pain. The company’s mission is to safely alleviate suffering for millions of patients with conditions arising from activated sensory neurons. Working with Harvard’s Office of Technology Development, Nocion was founded on an exclusive license to foundational intellectual property from Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital. For more information, visit: www.nociontx.com.
