Noveome Biotherapeutics said it has closed on $20.7 million toward a $40.2 million goal in a Series E financing round.
The capital will be used to support the advancement of clinical trials for its lead product, ST266, a treatment for necrotizing enterocolitis.
MAK Capital, a New York-based investment fund, led the round. Existing investors also participated.
Noveome expects to complete the round by year end.
Necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, is a rare but often-fatal inflammatory gastrointestinal disease that can develop in premature infants.
ST266 is made by culturing a novel population of human amnion-derived cells. Using a proprietary culturing method, these cells produce a unique array of growth factors and cytokines, known as the secretome, which promote cellular survival and reduce inflammation.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May 2022 granted Noveome a Rare Pediatric Disease Designation and an Orphan Drug Designation for a new potential application of ST266. Treating and managing NEC costs over $5 billion annually in neonatal intensive care unit expenditures.
“NEC is a devastating disease that affects the most vulnerable among us,” Patrick Welch, Noveome CEO, said in a prepared statement. “We are encouraged by the support from both MAK and existing investors in this Series E financing, providing Noveome with the necessary funding to progress our clinical stage NEC program.”
Preclinical results suggest that ST266 may be effective in both preventing and treating NEC.
“We are excited to join Noveome and support the broad therapeutic potential of ST266 to deliver novel treatments to patients suffering from a wide variety of complex diseases,” Michael Kaufman, MAK Capital CEO, said in a prepared statement. “We are motivated by the prospect of providing the first major improvement in lifesaving therapy for infants affected by NEC in over 30 years.”
Prior to this Series E financing, Noveome raised a total of $170 million from both private investors and non-dilutive financing from the U.S. Department of Defense, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Allegheny County.
Founded in 2000 and originally known as Stemnion Inc., the company took the Noveome name in spring 2016.
