A Research Triangle Park startup with Duke University roots is trying to raise $35 million as it advances a new treatment for depression.
Evecxia Therapeutics, launched by a pair of Duke professors in 2015, is developing a candidate called EVX-101, targeted for patients with treatment-resistant depression.
And the pressure is on, said co-founder Jacob Jacobsen, as rates of depression have increased amid the ongoing pandemic.
Already, the three-person firm has raised more than $8.6 million in the round. While $35 million is the cap, Jacobsen said the actual goal is about $20 million, enough to ready its lead candidate for a Phase 2 trial.
Their potential treatment could answer a major unmet need, he said. When typical treatments – from Lexapro to Paxil – don’t work, “all of a sudden your options are pretty bad," Jacobsen said. There are existing add-on treatments, but the success rate is low, he added.
Plus, add-on treatments on the market today typically carry unpleasant side effects like weight gain, he said.
So Jacobsen and his colleagues are working to develop an alternative with less side effects – and, if all goes well, it could receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as soon as 2026, he said.
A lot has to happen before then, however. And Covid-19 isn’t helping. The pandemic has created enrollment challenges in trials across the U.S., Evecxia included. Its partners had to reduce lab staff, further complicating development efforts. Jacobsen estimates that the pandemic has put the firm behind by a quarter. The current fundraising effort, however, can help the company push forward. The plan is to grow to 14 employees by mid-2022.
If all goes well, the latest raise gives the company a runway until the middle of next year, Jacobsen said. The current fundraise comes about two years after a $2 million funder.
Jacobsen founded the company with fellow neuropsychopharmacologist Marc Caron.