Airway Therapeutics, a US-based lung disease therapy developer spun out from healthcare provider Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, has attracted $11m in series B financing from undisclosed new and existing investors.
Airway is developing lung disease therapies from proteins created through recombinant DNA technology, a process where artificial genetic sequences are forged from multiple DNA molecules pulled from differing sources.
The company’s lead product, AT-100, is being developed to treat a chronic breathing disorder mainly afflicting premature-born infants called bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
Airway Therapeutics has accessed manufacturing capacity for its treatments and licensed a system to produce uniform cellular containers for the AT-100 protein.
The company intends to identify more conditions that could respond to AT-100 and has recruited additional personnel to handle quality assurance and regulatory affairs.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital spun out Airway Therapeutics in 2011 to develop pulmonary therapy research, with $250,000 in funding each from Cincinnati Children’s Tomorrow Fund and public-private partnership CincyTech.
The company raised $4.6m in a 2014 series A round backed by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, CincyTech and Queen City Angels, before the same investors returned for a $6.3m bridge round in March 2017, participating alongside unnamed additional backers.