MONTREAL, June 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage cardiovascular company in Phase 2, today announced the close of a US$17 million Series B financing. The round was led by Domain Associates and included participation from all of Milestone’s existing investors including Fonds de solidarité FTQ (FSTQ), Pappas Ventures, BDC Capital, GO Capital, and iNovia Capital. The funding will be used to complete Phase 2 clinical development of MSP-2017. In connection with this financing, Domain’s Debra Liebert will join Milestone’s board of directors.
“We are excited to have a premier life sciences investor such as Domain join Milestone,” said Philippe Douville, Chief Executive Officer of Milestone. “We’ve made great progress since our Series A financing with advances on nasal formulations resulting in novel IP, completion of preclinical work, positive Phase 1 results, and filing of an IND. I look forward to working with Debra on the board as we continue development of MSP-2017 in Phase 2.”
About MSP-2017
MSP-2017 is a novel and potent short-acting calcium channel antagonist for the treatment of Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia (PSVT), a potentially debilitating cardiac arrhythmia. The product is being developed as a patient self-administered intranasal spray to terminate PSVT at the onset of episodes and is currently in Phase 2. Successful Phase 1 results demonstrated that MSP-2017 has a rapid onset and reaches pharmacologically relevant plasma levels within 5 minutes of administration. MSP-2017 is designed to be short-acting and metabolized quickly after resolution of the PSVT episode. MSP-2017 will improve patients’ quality of life by allowing them to terminate their PSVT episodes at home and avoid ER visits.
MSP-2017 is intended to address a significant unmet medical need due to the lack of convenient, rapidly efficacious and safe self-administered products for the treatment of PSVT episodes in the home setting.
About Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia (PSVT)
PSVT is a condition that afflicts 1.7 million people and results in over 600,000 healthcare claims in the US alone per year. During an incident, patients may feel palpitations while heart rate increases dramatically and can exceed 200 beats per minute. Although the condition is not life threatening, it causes great concern on the part of the patient and generally results in an emergency trip to the hospital. In the emergency room, the patient is usually administered intravenous drugs and watched until symptoms disappear. The company is developing a new drug that the patient can administer through a pocket sized nasal delivery device. The goal is to provide immediate relief and obviate the necessity for expensive and concerning hospital visits.
About Milestone Pharmaceuticals
Milestone is a clinical stage drug development company developing novel small molecule therapeutics based on clinically validated mechanisms for cardiovascular diseases. Milestone’s lead product, MSP-2017, is a novel and potent short-acting calcium channel antagonist for the systemic treatment of PSVT in Phase 2 clinical studies. The Company has assembled a world-class drug development team and advisory board of key opinion leaders with significant cardiovascular expertise in cardiology, regulatory affairs, and drug development. For more information, please visit www.milestonepharma.com.
About Domain Associates
Founded in 1985, Domain was one of the first venture capital firms to exclusively invest in the life sciences sector. Domain has been involved in the formation of more than 250 companies. Today, with more than $2.7 billion in capital raised, Domain is a proven healthcare venture capital leader with solid investment returns from companies built to advance human health. For more information about Domain Associates, please visit www.domainvc.com.
About the Fonds de solidarité FTQ
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ helps drive our economy. With net assets of $10.5 billion as of November 30, 2014, the Fonds is a development capital fund that channels the savings of Quebecers into investments in all sectors of the economy to help create and maintain jobs and further Québec’s development. The Fonds is a partner, either directly or through its network members, in more than 2,450 companies. With more than 600,000 shareholder-savers, the Fonds helps create, maintain and protect more than 172,000 jobs. For more information, please visit www.FondsFTQ.com.
About Pappas Ventures
Established in 1994, Pappas Ventures invests exclusively in the life sciences sector biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, drug delivery, medical devices and related ventures across the United States and Canada. Pappas Ventures has more than $350 million in capital under management and has guided the launch and/or development of 57 companies. Recent portfolio highlights include the IPOs of CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc., and Chimerix, Inc., and the acquisition of Lumena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. by Shire, plc. For more information about Pappas Ventures, please visit www.pappasventures.com.
About BDC Capital
A subsidiary of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), BDC Capital offers a full spectrum of specialized financing and investment solutions to help Canadian entrepreneurs achieve their full growth potential. With more than $1 billion under management, BDC Capital takes a strategic, patient approach to nurture companies’ development over the long term.
BDC Capital’s Healthcare Venture Fund invests in transformative Canadian companies that will dramatically increase healthcare productivity by reducing healthcare costs while improving patient health. The experienced team manages $270 million in capital across two different funds and invests in drugs, devices, diagnostics and digital health sectors. For more information, please visit www.bdccapital.ca/health.
About GO Capital LP
GO Capital LP is a $50 million venture capital fund that invests in Quebec seed-stage technology firms in the fields of cleantech, information technologies and life sciences. GO Capital is managed by its General Partner, the Business Development Bank of Canada.
About iNovia Capital
iNovia Capital is a venture capital firm that partners with exceptional entrepreneurs to build successful technology companies in high-growth sectors. The team is comprised of founders, builders and engineers that are passionate about building market-leading technology companies. iNovia has $275M under management across three seed and early-stage funds. For more information, please visit www.iNovia.vc (Twitter: @iNovia).
SOURCE Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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