Drug company GlaxoSmithKline’s in-house venture capital division has co-led the $43m second round of funding for US-based NeuroTherapeutics Pharma.
The series B round for the Chicago-based developer of therapies for central nervous system disorders, was also co-led by two other new investors, Fidelity Biosciences and MPM Capital, as well as SR One’s corporate venturing peer, Pfizer Venture Investments.
NeuroTherapeutics’ original backers were Novo Ventures, the corporate venture unit of Denmark-based foundation Novo, which invested between DKr10m ($1.7m) and DKr25m in its portfolio company’s December 2006 A round for more than 20% of its shares, and US-based Thomas McNerney & Partners. They both reinvested in NeuroTherapeutics (NTP).
The company’s series B financing will advance its compound NTP‐2014 up to and through multiple proof‐of‐concept Phase II trials and further develop a pipeline to expand this new class of therapy.
Rajeev Dadoo, partner at SR One, said: "NTP’s unique and proprietary technology has significant potential in epilepsy and pain."
Heath Lukatch, a San Francisco-based partner at Novo Ventures and chairman of NTP, said: "To have raised such a significant amount of capital in this environment is a tremendous validation of the company’s technology and team."
In October, Corey Goodman joined NTP’s board of directors. He was most recently president of Pfizer’s Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center and a professor at Stanford University, where Lukatch received his PhD.