Appili Therapeutics Inc., an anti-infective drug development company, has raised a $3.1 million round of equity financing, which will help pay for clinical trials due to start within 10 weeks.
The Halifax-based company said the money was raised through a private placement with new and current investors. There was only one investor that chose to be named – Innovacorp, which contributed to previous rounds. In the past, the company has received help in raising funds from the Toronto investment boutique Bloom Burton & Co.
Appili has now raised a total of $7.5 million since its seed round in March 2016. Appili, which is only two years old, was one of the leading Atlantic Canadian companies in terms of fund-raising last year, and is on track to be one of the biggest again this year.
“There is a robust market opportunity for antibiotics that really brings value and the successful closing of this financing round reflects that,” said Appili CFO Kimberly Stephens in the statement.
The company said it would use the money to fund operations, advance its pipeline of anti-infectives and move its lead antibiotic into clinical trials. The company said in the statement it plans to take its first drug candidate into clinical trials this year.
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Appili last year revealed a two-track strategy. In the next few years it is working to bring to market a drug known as ATI-1501, which treats clostridium difficile infection, or CDI, in children.
ATI-1501, which will soon begin clinical trials, removes the bitter taste from Metronidazole, a drug that has been used to treat the condition since the 1970s. Metronidazole is effective, but it tastes awful, so children often won’t take it, thereby limiting its effectiveness. By removing the bitter taste, ATI-1501 improves the results of the drug.
CDI is one of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s most urgent antibiotic-resistant bacterial threats. It affects more than 500,000 Canadians and Americans each year and causes 29,000 deaths annually. The Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to the drug, reducing the regulatory burden in launching the drug.
Meanwhile, Appili is also working on ATI-1503, an antibiotic that could fight deadly infections such as Klebsiella pneumonia. CEO Kevin Sullivan has said the drug could combat viruses that are resistant to antibiotics, but it’s a longer-term, riskier project than the first drug.
“Appili has assembled a team with the proven ability to bring new antibiotics to market, and has made remarkable progress in building a pipeline that addresses major unmet needs in bacterial infections,” said Lidija Marušić, life sciences investment manager at Innovacorp and member of Appili’s Board of Directors.
Added Sullivan: “We appreciate the confidence investors have in our strategy to build a balanced-risk pipeline of products designed to treat the most serious and drug-resistant infections affecting patients today.”
Disclosure: Innovacorp is a client of Entrevestor.
