Symic Bio said yesterday that it raised $30 million in a Series B financing round, led by existing investors and HEDA Ventures.

Funds from the round are slated to support the company’s clinical programs, including a drug designed to prevent peripheral vein graft failure, SB-030, and a therapy for pain management of osteoarthritis of the knee, SB-061.

The San Francisco-based company also said yesterday that it plans to launch a Phase III trial of SB-030 in 2018, following a pre-investigational new drug meeting with the FDA. Supported by interim results from the Phase I/IIa Shield study, the regulatory watchdog recommended that the company move forward with a single Phase III registration study.

“This financing reflects support from our committed investor base for the promise of our matrix biology platform,” CEO Ken Horne said in prepared remarks. “Additional funds will allow us to efficiently advance our 2 clinical candidates into later stage development and support some of the exciting research we are conducting in other therapeutic areas with our matrix regulators. We are encouraged by the depth of involvement of our investors. We are also encouraged by the recent feedback we have received from the FDA regarding our SB-030 program and look forward to initiating a Phase III trial in 2018.”

Symic Bio’s SB-030 is designed to improve clinical outcomes following surgical vein graft procedures, which are traditionally performed as a treatment of critical limb ischemia. The drug is delivered directly to the vein graft and targets the exposed extracellular matrix with the goal of reducing the scarring that can cause vein graft failure.

The Phase I/IIa Shield trial enrolled 67 patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease and compared the safety and efficacy of balloon angioplasty with or without SB-030. The study’s primary endpoints included late lumen loss at 6 months, restenosis following vascular injury and other outcomes such as target lesion revascularization.