Sweden-based biopharmaceutical developer Oxthera, a spinout of medical device company Q-Med, raised €32m ($34m) yesterday from various investors including Swedish state-backed fund Stiftelsen Industrifonden.
Asset manager Brohuvudet, Kurma Partners and Idinvest Partners also took part in a round that was co-led by four venture capital firms, Life Sciences Partners, Ysios Capital, Sunstone Capital and Flerie Invest.
Founded in 2005, Oxthera is the developer of Oxabact, an oral product used to treat primary hyperoxaluria (PH), a rare disorder causing soft tissue calcification in the kidneys that can lead to kidney failure and premature death.
There is a need for a drug to treat PH as at present the only cure available requires a combined transplantation of liver and kidneys.
Oxthera also makes Oxazyme, a treatment for dietary hyperoxaluria and prevention of kidney stones.
The capital raised will be used to complete a development program for Oxabact, now entering the third phase of a key clinical study. This program has already been presented to the European Union’s drug regulator, European Medicines Agency, and its counterpart in the US, the Food and Drug Administration.
In previous rounds Oxthera amassed SKr385m ($42m) in equity funding plus SKr39m from a rights issue in 2012 to develop Oxabact.
The company secured $10.6m in 2014 in a round that included not-for-profit medical practice Mayo Clinic and investment firm IdInvest and was led by venture firm Kurma Partners.
In 2007, OxThera raised Skr150m from backers such as Q-Med as well as investment firms HealthCap, Scandinavian Life Science Venture (SLS Venture) and Industrifonden.
When OxThera was formed as a spinout from Q-Med in July 2005, the company collected SKr165m by selling new shares to HealthCap and SLS Venture, with Q-Med retaining a 19% stake.