ANN ARBOR, MI — ONL Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies to protect the vision of patients with retinal disease, has completed a $46.9 million funding round.
The company’s lead product candidate is called ONL1204 Ophthalmic Solution. The development program first focused on treatment of retinal detachment, a condition for which the compound has been granted orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It has now advanced into chronic indications of open-angle glaucoma and geographic atrophy associated with age-related macular degeneration.
“We are excited to have reached our critical 2021 milestones, advancing ONL1204 into open-angle glaucoma and GA associated with dry AMD,” said David Esposito, CEO of ONL Therapeutics. “With the support of our investors, we are grateful for the opportunity to further expand our development program into two chronic indications, each with significant unmet medical needs, while also working to close out our Phase 1 study in retinal detachment.”
The financing included lead investor Bios Partners; additional new investors Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC Inc., Kaitai Capital, PSQ Capital, and Michigan Capital Network Venture Fund III; and continuing investors InFocus Capital Partners, ExSight Ventures, the University of Michigan’s Michigan Investment in New Technology Startups program, Western Michigan University’s Biosciences Research & Commercialization Center, and the Capital Community Angels.
“Based on the current data being generated across three indications, Bios Partners remains enthusiastic about the potential for ONL1204, with its novel mechanism of action, to play a critical role in meeting the large unmet clinical need in retinal degenerative and neurologic diseases,” said Stella Robertson, co-founder of Bios Partners and member of the board of directors of ONL Therapeutics.
The announcement last week detailed the closing of the second tranche of ONL Therapeutics’s Series B financing. In addition to completing the Phase 1 studies across three indications, the second tranche of financing also supports the firm’s regulatory plans to prepare for Phase 2 programs in the U.S.
“The potential role of Fas inhibition to provide a novel therapeutic approach for patients with retinal diseases such as glaucoma and GA is at the core of our mission,” commented David Zacks, MD, co-founder and chief scientific officer of ONL Therapeutics. “We are taking important steps forward on our clinical development pathway and our ultimate goal of bringing new neuroprotection therapies to market.”