Satsuma Pharmaceuticals, a US-based acute migraine treatment developer, received $62m in series B funding yesterday from investors including contract research firm Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories.
Wellington Management Company led the round, which also featured SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services firm SBI, as well as Osage University Partners, RA Capital Management, TPG Biotech, Cam Capital, Surveyor Capital, Eventide Asset Management, Cormorant and Lumira Ventures.
Spun out of Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories in 2016, Satsuma is working on a medical device that will self-administer a proprietary form of an existing anti-migraine drug known as dihydroergotamine (DHE).
DHE is currently administered primarily through injections, though it is also available as a less potent nasal spray. Satsuma has developed a dry-powder nasal formulation it hopes will offer consistent and robust efficacy.
The product candidate, STS101, will be advanced into late-stage clinical development following the series B round, with a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial set to begin in the third quarter of this year.
Satsuma has already consulted the US Food and Drug Administration to design a phase 3 efficacy study to prepare a new drug application. It had previously closed a $12m series A round in 2017 co-led by RA Capital Management and TPG Biotech.
John Kollins, Satsuma’s president and CEO, said: As we advance STS101 into phase 3 development, we are privileged to have strong support from top-tier healthcare investors who share our vision of creating a best-in-class DHE therapeutic product with differentiated and demonstrated clinical benefits that address the unmet needs of many people with migraine.”
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.