US-based biopharmaceuticals company Otonomy, which is targeting disorders of the ear, has raised $38.5m in a series B round co-led by Novo Ventures, the corporate venturing division of Denmark-based medical foundation Novo.
The other co-lead was venture capital firm RiverVest Venture Partners. They were joined by financial investors Domain Associates and TPG Biotech. The round is incremental to the $10m Series A closed in June with Otonomy’s incubator, Avalon Ventures, which also participated in the series B.
Jay Lichter, chief executive and co-founder of Otonomy and managing director of Avalon, said: "We welcome the large commitment of funds in this round to support our clinical development activities through registration and the financial capacity of the investor group, which enables the company to take our products through registration and possibly self-commercialize in the US should we decide to do so."
Peter Bisgaard, partner of Novo Ventures who is joining Otonomy’s board, said: "The development of optimized drug treatments for disorders of the ear represents a very attractive investment opportunity based on the large population of patients affected and the lack of any US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs for hearing or balance disorders."
Novo Ventures has invested in more than 57 companies since 2000 for Novo, which is owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and owns shares in listed diabetes companies Novo Nordisk and Novozymes that have their own independent venturing programmes.