Chase Pharmaceuticals, a US-based developer of drugs to treat brain disorders, has secured $21m in series B debt and equity financing from a syndicate led by private equity firm New Rhein Healthcare Investors, and also including pharmaceutical company Cipla and the private equity affiliate of Edmond de Rothschild Group.
As part of the round, Cipla will pay $1.5m for a 14.6% stake in Chase. It could pay an additional $4.5m if certain milestones are met.
Founded in 2007, Chase previously raised $1.2m in a 2010 series A round from Brain Trust Accelerator Fund, which also took part in the series B round.
Chase will use the funding to support Phase 2a and 2b clinical trials of its lead product, CPC-201, an oral treatment for Alzheimer’s.
New Rhein partner Greg Parekh, formerly the head of mergers and acquisitions for pharmaceutical company Novartis, will join Chase as its new chairman, while Vikram Sudarsan of corporate venturing unit Cipla New Ventures and Raphaël Wisniewski of Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners will also join the company’s board.