By Angela McDaniels
Seattle, Jan. 17 - Ocera Therapeutics Inc. said it has completed a $14.5 million series A financing co-led by Domain Associates and Thomas, McNerney & Partners.
"We believe that Ocera is in an excellent position to develop a unique new oral therapy for Crohn's disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases," Eckard Weber, partner at Domain Associates, said in a company news release.
Proceeds will be used to begin clinical trials of AST-120, the company's lead clinical candidate. Ocera licensed the rights to develop the drug for the treatment of gastrointestinal and liver diseases in North America and Europe from Japan-based Kureha Corp.
"Our lead compound, AST-120, is an oral drug that already has extensive Japanese human safety data in more than 200,000 patients and has demonstrated promising clinical efficacy in patients with mild to moderate Crohn's disease," Laurent Fischer, Ocera president and chief executive officer, said in the release.
The company said it has filed an Investigational New Drug Application for AST-120 with the Food and Drug Administration and plans to begin clinical trials of the drug for the treatment of Crohn's Disease in the first half of 2006.
AST-120 consists of orally delivered, nanoporous microspheres that absorb toxins in the gastrointestinal tract.
Gastrointestinal diseases represent large markets with unmet medical needs, Ocera said. Crohn's Disease alone is expected to have a market size of over $1.7 billion by 2013.
Ocera Therapeutics is a privately held biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego that licenses, develops and commercializes proprietary clinical candidates to treat a broad range of gastrointestinal and liver diseases.
| Issuer: | Ocera Therapeutics Inc.
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| Amount: | $14.5 million
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| Issue: | Series A financing
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| Investors: | Domain Associates and Thomas, McNerney & Partners (co-leads)
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| Announcement date: | Jan. 17
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