Milestone Pharmaceuticals said today that it closed a $55 million series C financing round. Led by Novo Holdings, the round also included new investors Forbion Capital Partners and Tekla Capital Management, as well as existing investors Domain Associates and Fonds de solidarité FTQ, BDC Capital, Pappas Capital, and GO Capital.
The Montreal-based company is slated to use its newly-acquired funds to bring its lead product, etripamil, into Phase III trials. Etripamil is a short-acting calcium channel blocker that Milestone Pharmaceuticals is formulating as a fast-acting nasal spray to quickly stop paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.
PSVT is is traditionally treated with adenosine, calcium channel blockers or beta blockers, which are administered using an IV in a clinical setting. There are no available treatments that can be administered by a patient at home.
At this year’s annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society, Milestone Pharmaceuticals touted data from its Phase II trial, demonstrating that etripamil was statistically better than a placebo for the acute termination of PSVT induced in a laboratory.
“Following our successful Phase II study results, we have been actively planning for the progression of etripamil into the next phase of development to further evaluate its potential as the only patient-administered treatment for the acute termination of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia,” president & CEO Joseph Oliveto said in prepared remarks. “With financing in place by such seasoned and well-respected healthcare investors, Milestone is well positioned to advance and optimize this cutting-edge, novel approach for treating PSVT and potentially reduce the associated frequency of expensive emergency room visits and patient burden it causes each year.”
In connection with the funding round, Nilesh Kumar of Novo Ventures and Marco Boorsma of Forbion Capital Partners plan to join the company’s board of directors. Daniel Omstead of Tekla Capital Management will serve as an observer to the board, according to Milestone Pharmaceuticals.
“We are excited to join Milestone in the development of a novel approach for the treatment of PSVT,” Kumar said. “There is a significant unmet need in the treatment of this condition and, with strong Phase II data, we look forward to seeing etripamil progress in pivotal trials.”
“We welcome colleagues from Novo, Forbion and Tekla to our existing investor group which supported Milestone through achievement of proof of concept in its Phase II program,” Didier Leconte, senior director of investments for life science at Fonds de solidarité FTQ, added. “We look forward to working together as Milestone builds future value and executes the Phase III plan.”
