Lyndra, Inc. said today that it closed a $23m Series A round, led by Polaris Partners, to fund the development of its long-acting therapeutic oral delivery platform. Quark Venture, GF Securities, Yonghua Capital, Healthlink Capital, Partners Healthcare, Suffolk Equity and others invested in the round.
The Watertown, Mass.-based company touts its tech as the 1st ultra-long acting, sustained release oral dosage form. Its system enables linear drug release of peptides and small molecules for 7 days or longer from each capsule, the company said.
The company is based on technology developed in Robert Langer’s lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lyndra claims that its dosage form offers reduced side effects and a unique method of local gastrointestinal delivery.
The company said it plans to use its newly-acquired funds to develop its lead candidate program and grow its manufacturing capabilities. It also revealed that it expects to launch 1st-in-human trials this year and that additional dosage forms are in the works for pharma and biotech partners.
“Lyndra’s ultra-long acting platform, originally developed for mass drug administration campaigns in the developing world, is particularly powerful because of the breadth of indications and compounds that the company can target and bring to patients,” co-founder Langer said in prepared remarks. “The number of lives we could touch with this technology is nearly limitless. Since the companies founding, 5 members of the [Langer] Lab have joined Lyndra due to their commitment to bring this technology to patients. This mix of passion and potential patient impact is truly something special.”
“That approximately 50% of people do not adhere to their prescribed medications in the developed world leading to $100 billion dollars spent on avoidable hospitalizations in the US alone, which is both unfortunate and to date largely resistant to quick-fix efforts,” co-founder & CEO Amy Schulman added. “The detrimental impact on patient health outcomes is something we can help. We hope the Lyndra platform will improve how patients feel about taking their medication, and how caregivers administer pills. Making it easier for patients and caregivers, while improving efficacy, shifts the current paradigm of oral delivery and adherence. This financing, and the incredible team we have assembled, will enable us to enter into clinical trials in the near term and start making that aspiration a reality.”
