TIDMPRTC
RNS Number : 0930T
PureTech Health PLC
18 March 2019
18 March 2019
PureTech Health plc
PureTech's Affiliate Karuna Announces $68 Million Series B
Financing
Financing led ARCH Venture Partners, with participation from
Fidelity Management & Research Company, Eventide Asset
Management, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, Partner Fund Management,
Wellcome Trust, Sands Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, and
founder PureTech Health
Proceeds will support clinical development of lead product
candidate, KarXT, into additional indications and expansion of the
pipeline
PureTech Health plc (LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech Health"), an advanced
biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines for
dysfunctions of the Brain-Immune-Gut (BIG) axis, today announced
that its affiliate Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. ("Karuna," formerly
Karuna Pharmaceuticals), has completed a $68 million Series B
financing round, including the issuance of $5 million in shares
upon conversion of debt into equity. Proceeds from the financing
will be used to advance the development of KarXT into several new
indications, including geriatric psychosis and pain; to progress
new formulations of KarXT; expand the pipeline; and to continue to
build company infrastructure. KarXT, Karuna's lead product
candidate, is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial
as a potential treatment for acute psychosis in patients with
schizophrenia.
Eric Elenko, PhD, chief innovation officer at PureTech Health,
said: "We are pleased to have the participation of this top tier
group of new and existing investors in Karuna as the company
continues to progress KarXT through a Phase 2 study in
schizophrenia and looks to expand into new indications, including
geriatric psychosis and pain where there is tremendous patient
need."
The full text announcement from Karuna is as follows:
Karuna Announces $68 Million Series B Financing
Proceeds will be used to advance clinical development of lead
product candidate, KarXT, for additional indications beyond the
ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial in schizophrenia and for expansion
of the pipeline
BOSTON, March 18, 2019-Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. ("Karuna,"
formerly Karuna Pharmaceuticals), focused on targeting muscarinic
cholinergic receptors for the treatment of neuropsychiatric
disorders including psychosis in schizophrenia, psychosis in
Alzheimer's disease, and pain, today announced the completion of a
$68 million Series B financing round, including the issuance of $5
million in shares upon conversion of debt into equity.
The financing was led by ARCH Venture Partners, with
participation from Fidelity Management & Research Company,
Eventide Asset Management, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, Partner
Fund Management, Wellcome Trust, Sands Capital, Alexandria Venture
Investments, and founder PureTech Health. Heather Preston, M.D.,
managing director of Pivotal bioVenture Partners, has joined the
board of directors of Karuna.
KarXT, Karuna's lead product candidate, is currently being
evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial as a potential treatment for
acute psychosis in patients with schizophrenia. Proceeds from the
financing will be used to advance the development of KarXT into
several new indications, including geriatric psychosis and pain,
progress new formulations of KarXT, expand the pipeline, and
continue to build company infrastructure.
"Patients living with schizophrenia often must choose among
treatment options that only partly address their disabling
psychotic and cognitive symptoms, often with undesirable side
effects. Karuna's mission is to deliver a more effective and
better-tolerated treatment for this large and underserved patient
population. We believe this financing will enable us to deliver
multiple milestones across our product-focused pipeline while
expanding the capabilities and potential of our muscarinic receptor
platform," said Steve Paul, M.D., chief executive officer and
chairman of the board of Karuna.
"Karuna has continued to make strong progress advancing its
pipeline, including ongoing enrollment in their Phase 2 clinical
trial for the treatment of acute psychosis in patients with
schizophrenia, and we are encouraged by the data supporting this
novel approach to addressing a core symptom of a variety of
disabling and all-too-common central nervous system disorders,"
said Robert Nelsen, co-founder and managing director of ARCH
Venture Partners. "As an investor focused on companies with
innovative approaches to meeting patient needs, we are pleased to
support the next stage of Karuna's development."
About KarXT
KarXT (Karuna-Xanomeline-Trospium), Karuna's lead product
candidate for the treatment of psychosis in schizophrenia, consists
of xanomeline, a novel muscarinic acetylcholine receptor agonist
that has demonstrated efficacy in placebo-controlled human trials
in schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, and trospium chloride, an
FDA-approved and well-established muscarinic receptor antagonist
that has been shown not to enter the central nervous system (CNS).
KarXT is designed to preferentially target M1/M4 muscarinic
receptors in the brain while inhibiting their stimulation in
peripheral tissues to significantly improve tolerability. Karuna
has completed two Phase 1 clinical trials which demonstrated a
clinically meaningful reduction in side effects compared to
xanomeline and demonstrated that KarXT is well tolerated in healthy
volunteers. A proprietary co-formulation of xanomeline and trospium
in a single capsule was used in the second Phase 1 clinical trial
and is now being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial in
patients with schizophrenia experiencing acute psychosis. Top-line
data from this trial are anticipated by the end of 2019. A Phase 1b
experimental pain trial in healthy volunteers and clinical work
towards geriatric psychosis are expected to begin later this
year.
About Karuna Therapeutics
Karuna is a clinical-stage drug development company focused on
targeting muscarinic cholinergic receptors for the treatment of
neuropsychiatric disorders including psychosis in schizophrenia,
psychosis in Alzheimer's disease, and pain. Karuna's lead product
candidate, KarXT, (Karuna-Xanomeline-Trospium) is being evaluated
in a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with schizophrenia
experiencing acute psychosis, with top-line results anticipated at
the end of 2019. Karuna, which was founded by PureTech Health (LSE:
PRTC), has a worldwide exclusive license for xanomeline and has a
patent portfolio more broadly covering selective muscarinic
targeting enabled by the KarXT approach. For more information,
visit karunatx.com.
About PureTech Health
PureTech Health (LSE: PRTC) is an advanced biopharmaceutical
company developing BIG medicines for dysfunctions of the
Brain-Immune-Gut axis. The Company has gained deep insights into
the connection between these systems and the resulting role in
diseases that have proven resistant to established therapeutic
approaches. By harnessing this emerging field of human biology,
PureTech Health is developing new categories of medicines with the
potential to have great impact on people with serious diseases.
PureTech Health is advancing a rich pipeline of innovative
therapies with an unbiased, non-binary, and capital efficient
R&D model across its affiliates and its internal labs.
PureTech's affiliates include seven clinical-stage platforms with
two product candidates that have been filed with the US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) for review and other novel pre-clinical
programmes. The PureTech Health pipeline includes ground-breaking
platforms and therapeutic candidates that were developed in
collaboration with some of the world's leading experts.
PureTech's internal research and development is centred on
tissue-selective immunomodulation for the treatment of oncology,
autoimmune, and CNS-related disorders, with a near-term focus on
targeting newly-discovered, foundational immunosuppressive
mechanisms in oncology and novel approaches that harness the
lymphatic infrastructure.
For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect
with us on Twitter @puretechh.
Ownership Information
PureTech's percentage ownership of Karuna Therapeutics following
the financing is approximately 41.0% on a diluted basis. This
calculation of PureTech's holding includes issued and outstanding
shares as well as options and warrants to purchase shares, but
excludes unallocated shares authorised to be issued pursuant to
equity incentive plans.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains statements that are or may be
forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the
company's future prospects, developments and strategies. The
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and
are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ
materially from current expectations, including, but not limited
to, those risks and uncertainties described in the risk factors
included in the regulatory filings for PureTech Health plc. These
forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the
present and future business strategies of the company and the
environment in which it will operate in the future. Each
forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press
release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements,
neither the company nor any other party intends to update or revise
these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.
Contact:
Investors EU media US media
Allison Mead Talbot Ben Atwell, Rob Winder Tom Donovan
+1 617 651 3156 +44 (0) 20 3727 1000 +1 857 559 3397
amt@puretechhealth.com ben.atwell@FTIconsulting.com tom@tenbridgecommunications.com
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
MSCDGGDXUGBBGCL
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 18, 2019 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Puretech Health (LSE:PRTC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Puretech Health (LSE:PRTC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024