Cerenis Therapeutics has pulled in a $51.7 million Series C round to fund Phase 2 trials of a drug that treats cardiovascular disease.
The company, with operations in France and Ann Arbor, Michigan, has now raised $138 million in venture funding since its 2005 inception, according to a statement. (The company listed its funding amounts in euros, but those have been converted to U.S. dollars using today’s exchange rates.)
Cerenis’ lead drug candidate, CER-001, mimics the effect of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, also known as the “good cholesterol”) to break down the buildup of plaque in arteries. The drug is targeted toward patients with severe atherosclerosis, a condition in which fatty material collects along the walls of arteries, then thickens and hardens, restricting blood flow.
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COO Bill Brinkerhoff described a drug that causes the regression of arterial plaque as “the holy grail” of cardiovascular disease therapeutics. The company hopes its Phase 2 study shows that CER-001 accomplishes just that. The company plans to begin the study by the end of the year, Brinkerhoff said.
Assuming the Phase 2 study goes well, it would be followed by another trial designed to show that the drug leads to an improvement in patients’ “morbidity and mortality,” Brinkerhoff said. Cerenis aims to file for regulatory approval for the drug within about five years.
The company has 26 employees, with a nearly equal split between France and Ann Arbor. Cerenis was founded by former executives of another Ann Arbor drug developer, Esperion Therapeutics. Esperion started in 1998, later went public and then was sold in 2004 to Pfizer for $1.3 billion. It’s since been restarted after Pfizer shuttered it in 2007 as the giant pharmaceuticals company restructured much of its research and development operations.
Cerenis has several other drugs in its pipeline, with some in early clinical trials. All the drugs are based on HDL therapy, Brinkerhoff said.
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Half of the funding for the Series C was sourced from the Fund for Strategic Investment and the other half comes from the following existing investors: Sofinnova Partners, HealthCap, Alta Partners and TVM Capital, EDF Ventures, OrbiMed and Daiwa Corporate Investment, according to the statement.
