Thesan Pharmaceuticals, a US-based biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for inflammatory disorders of the skin, has raised $16m in its series A round, co-led by two European drugs companies’ corporate venturing units.
Novo Ventures and Novartis Venture Funds, which invest on behalf of Denmark-based Novo and Switzerland-based Novartis respectively, co-led the A round.
Gordon Foulkes, Thesan’s executive chairman, said: “Thesan’s mission is to develop new chemical entities with novel mechanisms of action in order to substantially improve treatment outcomes for patients with a variety of dermatological diseases.”
The company’s first products have been licensed from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), after being developed in the laboratory of professor Daniele Piomelli, who is Louise Turner Arnold Chair of Neurosciences at UCI and the director of drug discovery and development at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Genoa, Italy.
“This is an extremely exciting opportunity to move toward the clinic the first technology born from the long-standing international collaboration between UCI and the IIT,” said Professor Piomelli.
Peter Bisgaard, a partner at Novo Ventures, said: “Professor Piomelli’s work offers a unique opportunity for developing a completely new class of anti-inflammatory agents, which can be moved rapidly into clinical development.”
Giovanni Ferrara, venture partner at Novartis Venture Funds, added: “A novel mechanism of action with dramatic efficacy, coupled with such solid chemistry is a great starting point for the formation of a new company.”
Bisgaard and Tiba Aynechi from Novo, as well as Ferrara and Henry Skinner from Novartis have joined Thesan’s board, along with Howard Welgus, former vice-president in dermatology and inflammation research and development at US-listed drugs company Pfizer.
Last year, Pfizer acquired Foulkes’ anti-fibrosis drug developer, Excaliard.