A startup with roots at East Carolina University is trying to make a dent in the opioid crisis through new drug combinations.
Amalgent Therapeutics, which lists a Chapel Hill address in securities filings and just opened its main office in Greenville, was born out of ECU technology. The company could be three years away from getting its therapies to patients, said Malcolm Meyn, an academic-turned chief scientific officer.
He and his business partner, Sam Tetlow, an industry veteran and investor, heard about the technology from contacts at ECU and went all in. Securities filings show $200,000 closed of a $1 million seed round so far.
Meyn said the infusion will go toward funding regulatory work, primarily, as it advances its products.
“It is a very direct way to address issues with opioids,” he said, noting it’s a unique opportunity to provide “societal and commercial benefit.”
The company's website describes the 2-year-old firm’s goal as developing fixed-dose combinations to “significantly reduce” the doses needed to combat pain. Meyn said that as the firm is not starting from nothing, it has a shorter runway to patients than many pharmaceutical companies.
“It uses established technologies and combines them to create a better pain reliever,” he said. “We’re not starting from scratch. We’re combining two approved drugs for the treatment of pain.”
There’s already “substantial” clinical data supporting the science. The next step, he said, is to finish the seed round and then begin to raise money for pivotal clinical trials.
Right now it’s a small team, just Meyn, Tetlow and a handful of consultants.