US-based lung disease therapy developer Airway Therapeutics completed a $6.3m bridge round on Monday that included healthcare provider Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
The round also featured public-private partnership CincyTech, angel investor group Queen City Angels and undisclosed new investors.
Airway is working on a protein replacement treatment for acute and chronic lung disease sufferers starting with infants. It has secured orphan designation status for its lead product, AT-100, for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in the US and Europe.
The company was founded in 2011 to commercialise pulmonary therapy research developed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, at which point it received an initial $250,000 in funding each from CincyTech and Cincinnati Children’s Tomorrow Fund.
Marc Salzberg, chief executive of Airway, said: “The proceeds from this finance round will allow Airway Therapeutics to continue its successful path to the manufacturing of AT-100 for use in humans.
“This is an exciting time for the company as we continue to execute on plan towards our goals of [investigational new drug]-acceptance and clinical proof of concept in BPD as well as use in other lung conditions.”
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, CincyTech and Queen City Angels had previously supplied $4.6m in series A financing for Airway in 2014.