CoDa Therapeutics lands $10 Million in Series A round
Not new, but I found no mention anywhere of this co
By Mark Terry
Posted 10/18/2006 1:06:00 PM
CoDa Therapeutics, Inc., San Diego, recently announced completing a $10 million Series A financing round with Domain Associates. CoDa is a wound-healing company targeting a protein that forms communication channels between cells. The lead technology is Nexagon, a small anti-connexin oligonucleotide that down-regulates the proteins that form gap junctions, which minimizes cell to cell communication after injuries.
Bradford J. Duft, President and Chief Executive Officer of CoDa, says, “Our technology is quite different from what a lot of other wound-healing players have tried. They typically dealt with attempts to use growth factors to heal wounds. We have a different target. We down-regulate that protein for 6 to 8 hours with a one-time topical application and that leads to a doubling of wound-healing rate, an 80% reduction in inflammation, a blockage of swelling, and a 50% reduction in scarring. Because this protein is ubiquitous throughout the body, the drug is not tissue sensitive. We’ve shown it works on eyes, skin, brain and spinal cord so far.”
The money from the Series A round will be used to execute and finalize two Phase I and Phase II trials in two different indications. One of those indications will be for the eye. The second indication, as yet determined, will probably be for an acute skin indication such as elective surgery.
Duft says, “We have a pretty impressive set of preclinical data, with successful results in 14 different preclinical animal models, as well as in ex vivo human eye tissue.”
CoDa is also in the unusual position of having had their lead product, Nexagon, utilized in a successful “compassionate use” situation. A construction worker in Auckland, New Zealand received an eye injury from a malfunctioning high-pressure concrete hose. Duft says, “The epithelium of his eye had been burned away because concrete is maintained in an alkaline situation. After 8 days of clinical management, he was told he was going to lose his eye. Knowing of our success in ex vivo eye tissue work, we were approached and asked if we could help out.”
CoDa applied for medical and ethical approval from Medsafe, the New Zealand version of the FDA, and was granted the right to use Nexagon on the patient. After a one-time topical application to the eye, the man’s eye improved to where the patient now has 20/20 vision.
Duft says, “The investors had this situation as well as a number of scientific data that showed that this was a completely different approach to wound healing than had ever been seen before, and that there have been very significant positive results in a number of different settings.” CoDa is working on a second finance closing worth $5 to $10 million.
Source: BioPerform.com |
