American Marconi Wireless News - Nanomerics Closes Series A Investment Round With a Strategic Investor and the Silverstein Dream Foundation

MET is the world's first clinical-stage, non-irritant, topical ocular penetration enhancer, and it powers all of Nanomerics' ophthalmology products. It solubilises hydrophobic drugs and delivers them efficiently from an eye drop to both the front and the back of the eye. Because it reaches the back of the eye without an injection, MET could make the treatment of retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration less invasive, without repeated injections into the eye. MET underpins Nanomerics' ocular pipeline, including the clinical-stage OC134, which is in development for moderate to severe allergic conjunctivitis and dry eye disease.

MET also delivers molecules preferentially to the brain via the nose-to-brain route, bypassing the blood-brain barrier. It is the underlying technology in Envelta™, in development for moderate to severe pain, and NobrXiol™, in development for childhood epilepsies. METfect, Nanomerics' second platform, is a proprietary polymer-based, non-viral gene delivery technology.

Nanomerics' Chief Executive Officer, Professor Andreas G. Schätzlein, said:

"This Series A investment round will enable Nanomerics to execute efficiently on its development strategy and bring to market the innovative medicines that ophthalmology patients desperately need. We are delighted to be working with a German strategic investor and the Silverstein Dream Foundation."

Patricia Silverstein, Chief Executive Officer of the Silverstein Dream Foundation, said:

"Diabetic retinopathy represents one of the most serious complications of diabetes, with the potential to profoundly affect independence and quality of life. Yet the burden of existing treatment, including the need for repeated injections into the eye, means that many patients who could potentially benefit from therapy remain difficult to treat consistently."

"Nanomerics represents the type of opportunity we believe Program-Related Investments are intended to support. The potential to make treatment for diabetic eye disease less invasive, more accessible and easier for patients to maintain is closely aligned with the Foundation's mission. By providing mission-driven capital to help advance this technology through clinical development, we hope to support an innovation that could ultimately improve the lives of a much broader population of people living with diabetes."

Everett Kamin, Chief Investment Officer of the Silverstein Dream Foundation, said: "What attracted us to Nanomerics is the combination of mission alignment and investment asymmetry. We are entering at a point where a substantial amount of the underlying technology development, manufacturing work and initial clinical de-risking has already taken place, but ahead of several potentially significant clinical and strategic value-inflection points."

"Just as importantly, we are investing behind a management team that has demonstrated an ability not only to develop differentiated science, but to translate its technology into commercial and licensing relationships. Nanomerics has been built unusually efficiently for a clinical-stage biotechnology company, historically financing its development largely through its own commercial activities rather than repeated external equity rounds."

"We therefore do not view this as a binary investment in a single therapeutic asset. The MET platform creates several independent pathways to value - through the lead ophthalmology programs, additional therapeutic applications, licensing partnerships and ultimately the strategic value of the platform itself. If the technology demonstrates in patients that medicines can be delivered effectively to areas such as the back of the eye without injections, we believe the potential value creation is considerably greater than what is reflected at the company's current stage of development."

About Nanomerics

Nanomerics Ltd is a speciality pharmaceutical company with state-of-the-art laboratories based in London, UK. Nanomerics was founded to commercialise its biocompatible polymer technologies for drug delivery and other applications. Nanomerics' proprietary technology is based on world-leading know-how and scientific leadership in polymer nanotechnology. Nanomerics creates uniquely differentiated, patented pharmaceutical assets, underpinned by high-quality science. For example, the company's Molecular Envelope Technology (MET) is a unique patented biocompatible polymer that delivers a step change in target tissue bioavailability. The founding scientists, Professor Dame Ijeoma F. Uchegbu and Professor Andreas G. Schätzlein, developed the technology at the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow and latterly at the UCL School of Pharmacy. Pharmaceutical product candidates in development include the eye drops OC134 for moderate to severe allergic conjunctivitis and dry eye disease, OC137 for retinal diseases and OC135 for glaucoma. For more information, please visit www.nanomerics.com

For press enquiries contact:
Pedro Margarido, Head of Operations, Nanomerics Ltd: [email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding Nanomerics' plans, clinical development programmes and expectations. Such statements are based on management's expectations and assumptions as at the date of this release and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Forward-looking statements speak only as at their stated date, and Nanomerics undertakes no obligation to update or revise them except as required by law.

SOURCE: Nanomerics Ltd

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

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