OxThera, Inc. Receives SEK 70 Million Financing To Continue Its Key Clinical Programs

OxThera AB Receives SEK 70 Million Financing to Continue its Key Clinical Programs

STOCKHOLM, April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- OxThera AB, a privately-held Stockholm-based biopharmaceutical company, today announced that a syndicate of new investors, led by Kurma Partners, including IdInvest Partners and Mayo Clinic, have agreed, together with OxThera's current shareholders, to invest a total of 70 MSEK in OxThera.

OxThera is currently conducting a phase 2 clinical study to demonstrate the clinical efficacy of Oxabact®, in Primary Hyperoxaluria (PH). "OxThera is the first investment for Kurma Biofund II, our new fund dedicated to rare diseases, and we are very glad to support OxThera's effort to develop a first-in-class therapy for patients suffering from this very severe genetic disease", says Dr. Rémi Droller, Managing Partner at Kurma Partners.

PH is a rare autosomal recessive disorder leading to markedly elevated levels of endogenous oxalate in plasma and urine. High levels of urinary oxalate cause kidney damage, including calcification of the kidney. If left untreated, the disease can cause kidney failure and premature death. This disease affects about 3,000 patients in the Western world.

Dr. Khalid Islam, previously Chairman & CEO of Gentium S.p.A, also joining the Board of Directors of OxThera after this financing, comments: "I am pleased to join the Board and look forward to assisting the management in their efforts to provide a much needed therapy for patients with this devastating disease, a high unmet medical need given that currently there are no approved therapies for PH".

OxThera holds proprietary rights to pharmaceutical preparations and their use for treatment of hyperoxaluria. Oxabact® has received orphan drug designations in the EU and the US for the treatment of PH. In December 2013, the company initiated a placebo-controlled clinical trial with Oxabact® in patients with PH at seven clinical sites in three countries. Results are expected during the autumn of this year. Oxabact® is an oral product composed of highly concentrated freeze-dried live bacteria (Oxalobacter formigenes).

About OxThera

OxThera holds worldwide rights for compositions and methods of use for treatment of hyperoxaluria. OxThera currently has two products in its pipeline: Oxabact® for the treatment of primary hyperoxaluria, and Oxazyme®, an oxalate decarboxylase, for the treatment of oxalate malabsorption and kidney failure in enteric hyperoxaluria.

For further information, please contact

Elisabeth Lindner, CEO of OxThera AB, Phone +46-8-660-0223

http://www.oxthera.com

SOURCE OxThera

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