AmacaThera Secures $3.6 Million Seed Funding to Advance Post-Surgical Pain Therapy

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that on October 3, 2019, biotechnology company AmacaThera announced the completion of a $3.6 million seed funding round. The round was co-led by Sprout BioVentures and Viva Biotech, with participation from Gray Sky Venture Partners, Lumira Ventures, and others.

Peter van der Velden, Managing Partner at Lumira Ventures, will join the Board of Directors of AmacaThera.

Mike Cooke, Co-founder and CEO of AmacaThera, stated that this round of financing will be used to advance the development of the company’s drug delivery platform, aiming to enter clinical trials by 2020.

AmacaThera, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Toronto, is a developer of injectable hydrogel technologies for medical applications. Its core technology is based on the injectable, biocompatible hydrogel platform pioneered by Dr. Molly Shoichet, an expert in polymer design, at the University of Toronto. Notably, Dr. Shoichet recently received the prestigious Killam Prize in Engineering. Dr. Mike Cooke, the newly appointed CEO of AmacaThera, was also one of the key researchers involved in the development of this technology.

AmacaThera’s core medical-grade injectable hydrogel technology enables the sustained and controlled release of various therapeutic agents from biocompatible injectable hydrogels. Via injection, the drug can be delivered and localized to a specified site.

Currently, AmacaThera’s first product in development, AMT-143, is designed to provide sustained relief from postoperative pain, thereby reducing or eliminating patients’ use of opioid medications (primarily including codeine, dihydrocodeine, hydromorphone, oxycodone, methadone, morphine, fentanyl, and pethidine).

Peter van der Velden, Managing Partner at Lumira Ventures, stated, “We have been closely following AmacaThera for an extended period and engaged in close collaboration with its team members prior to our investment. Based on our understanding of AmacaThera, we are highly confident in their technology, development strategy, and their opioid-alternative product currently under development for the sustained relief of postoperative pain.”

Todd McIntyre, Partner at Gray Sky Venture Partners, stated, “Gray Sky is delighted to partner with AmacaThera to bring AMT-143 to market. The market for non-opioid postoperative pain management remains underserved, and AmacaThera’s technology offers a unique solution for the sustained release of acute analgesics.”

AmacaThera is currently in discussions with its seed-round investors and other potential investors regarding its Series A financing round, which is expected to launch within the coming months.

AmacaThera, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Toronto, is a developer of medical-grade injectable hydrogel technologies. Its lead product, AMT-143, is poised to enter Phase I clinical trials.

Sprout BioVentures is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments, with a core mission of translating critical insights into human biology into viable therapeutics.

Viva Biotech (HKEX: 1873), founded in 2008 and headquartered in Shanghai, is committed to becoming an incubator for promising startup biotechnology companies worldwide. As of December 31, 2018, Viva Biotech had provided drug discovery services to more than 370 biotechnology and pharmaceutical clients globally, studied over 1,000 distinct drug targets, and delivered approximately 9,500 unique protein structures.

Gray Sky, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is an early-stage venture capital firm.

Lumira Ventures, established in 1989, is a leading Canadian venture capital firm focused on healthcare and life sciences, with offices in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Boston.