San Diego biotech Cidara Therapeutics just raised an impressive $42 million Series B round – with plans to speed up development of its antifungal and immunotherapy drugs, and bring them to clinical trial later this year.
The startup has two antifungal programs underway – called Biafungin and Topifungin. Biafungin is meant to be a once-weekly intravenous therapy to treat systemic fungal infections; Topifungin is a topic formulation of Biafungin that’ll be directed toward vulvovaginal candidiasis.
It’s also developing an immunotherapy platform called Cloudbreak which develops compounds that direct a patient’s immune cells to attack a broad range of pathogens – viral, bacterial or fungal – that cause infections. The company’s currently developing its first Cloudbreak candidate, called C-001, to treat another fungal infection called invasive aspergillosis.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Cidara won’t say who invested in this impressive Series B, just that it’s from “a syndicate of healthcare-dedicated insitutional investors and include both new and existing investors.” The startup’s raising cash fast – just last June, it closed a $32 million Series A, which was led by 5AM Ventures, Aisling Capital, Frazier Healthcare and InterWest Partners.
The company is led by Jeff Stein, the former CEO of San Diego antibiotic maker Trius Therapeutics, which was sold in 2013 to Cubist thanks to its MRSA drug tedizolid.
