Promics gets VC vote of confidence

Drug discovery company Promics has received a $2.5 million vote of confidence in its anti-inflammatory candidate PMX 53 from venture capital backers.

The money represents a second round of funding for the Brisbane biotech which venture capital firms Start-Up Australia and Rothschild Bioscience have successfully raised from its existing pool of investors.

The cash injection will finance final animal toxicity studies for PMX 53 and move it into human trials in Europe.

The animal studies in Australia and Scotland should be completed by October, according to the company. Satisfactory results would allow Promics to launch a Phase Ia trial involving healthy human volunteers in Europe by this December.

Start-up Australia and Rothschild Bioscience anticipate injecting a further $1.5 million into the company on successful completion of Phase I studies to move into Phase II human trials.

Founded on research from the University of Queensland, Promics has spent the last two years in pre-clinical development and testing of PMX 53 which can be administered orally.

It has been shown to be safe and effective in a variety of animal models of human auto immune diseases, the company claims.

Involving C5a inhibitors, which act by blocking a critical point in the complement cascade to prevent damaging inflammatory responses, PMX 53 is the first of several drugs that Promics plans to take into clinical trials.

It targets diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, tissue graft rejection and multiple sclerosis.

No therapeutic products presently are available to regulate the complement system selectively and PMX 53 could be the first in a new category of drugs to treat these diseases.

The market for drugs aimed at inflammatory diseases is estimated at $US20 billion, according to Promics managing director Alan Scott.