Denmark-based neuromuscular disorder drug developer NMD Pharma raised €38m ($47m) on Friday in a series A round co-led by Roche Venture Fund, the corporate venturing arm of healthcare company Roche.
Venture capital firm Inkef Capital co-led the round, which also featured Novo Seeds and Lundbeckfonden Emerge, respective early-stage investment units for pharmaceutical firms Novo and Lundbeck.
Founded in 2015, NMD Pharma is developing treatments for neuromuscular disorders that can cause debilitating fatigue and weakness, potentially leading to life-threatening respiratory issues.
The company is exploiting research conducted by Thomas Holm Pedersen, assistant professor in the muscle laboratory at Aarhus University, and Ole Bækgaard, professor in the same lab. Pedersen, NMD’s chief executive, co-founded the spinout with chief business officer Claus Olesen, a senior scientist and research business manager at Aarhus.
NMD is chasing cures for an entire category of diseases, rather than focusing only on one specific condition such as Parkinson’s disease.
To achieve its goal, the company is developing small-molecule inhibitors of the muscle-specific chloride ion channel, called CIC-1. Ion channels are proteins that allow electrically charged molecules – ions – to pass through the cell membrane.
The series A funding will enable NMD to advance two programs through proof-of-concept studies. Lundbeckfonden Emerge and Novo Seeds contributed to its $3m seed round in 2016 alongside Capnova, after Novo Seeds had supplied a pre-seed grant.
Christian Elling, managing partner of Lundbeckfonden Emerge, who sits on NMD’s board, said: “Based on the seed financing provided, the company has successfully matured its drug development programs and the current series A investment reflects this fact.
“We welcome the new investors in the company and look forward to continue collaborating with the team and helping them grow the company to address important unmet needs of patients with motor neuron disease.”
NMD’s board includes Anja Harmeier, investment manager at Roche Venture Fund; Morten Døssing, investment director at Novo Seeds; and Lucas de Breed, director at Inkef Capital, as well as life sciences veteran Patrick Vink, who is also the spinout’s chairman.
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.