Nan Fung Life Sciences, a subsidiary of property development group Nan Fung, participated in a $70m series B round for US-based neurologic drug developer Aptinyx yesterday.
Bain Capital Life Sciences, a branch of private equity firm Bain Capital, led the round, in which Adage Capital, Partner Fund Management, Agent Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments and Rock Springs Capital participated as new investors.
New Leaf Venture Partners, Adams Street Partners, LVP Life Science Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Goudy Park Capital, Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company, Longitude Capital, Osage University Partners, PathoCapital and Northwestern University also contributed to the round, as existing backers.
Spun out of predecessor company Naurex when it was acquired by pharmaceutical firm Allergan in 2015, Aptinyx has developed a drug discovery platform focused on compounds that can modulate NMDA receptors, which are located in nerve cells in the brain.
The company’s drug candidates include a treatment for neuropathic pain known as NYX-2925 and a drug for post-traumatic stress disorder called NYX-783.
NYX-2925 is currently in a phase 2 clinical trial, while the company has just started a phase 1 study of NYX-783. The funding will be used to support the clinical studies and continue development of a third candidate.
Aptinyx raised $65m in a May 2016 series A round led by New Leaf and backed by Frazier Healthcare Partners, Longitude Capital, Osage University Partners.
Adams Street Partners, LVP Life Science, PathoCapital, Goudy Park, Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company and Northwestern University also invested in the series A round having provided an undisclosed amount of seed funding for Aptinyx in 2015.
Norbert Riedel, Aptinyx’s CEO, said: “This financing will provide fuel for our growing pipeline as we continue to develop our innovative and differentiated NMDA receptor modulators for the treatment of a variety of neurologic disorders with high unmet medical need.
“We are delighted by the support of this syndicate of highly respected global investors with extensive domain expertise, which will be valuable as we advance our pipeline toward late-stage development in multiple indications.”