Bay Area startup Symic Biomedical just closed out a $25 million Series A-2 round, led by Eli Lilly’s venture arm. The company is developing drugs that target the extracellular matrix – focusing on diseases like osteoarthritis.
Symic just kicked off a Phase 1/2 trial to evaluate the efficacy on its lead compound, SB-030, which is meant to reduce post-surgery inflammation in patients with peripheral artery disease have angioplasties. It’s also pushing forward SB-061, an osteoarthritis drug, into the clinic.
The underlying concept here, CEO Ken Horne said in a phone interview, is that targeting the extracellular matrix can help control natural defenses against tissue degradation and inflammation – promoting healing during illness and injury. Symic is developing molecules that mimic the molecules in the extracellular matrix, called proteoglycans, that protect against inflammation.
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“We’re pretty unique in our approach to this,” Horne said. “It’s equally exciting and challenging.”
The company has now raised $43 million since it was founded in 2012. The research comes out of Indiana – Purdue University researcher Dr. Alyssa Panitch invented Symic’s underlying proteoglycan technology.
“We’re not planning to IPO,” Horne said. “I think this technology has tremendous potential – and from the outset we’ve built this company to self-sustain.”
