Clinical Trial in Atrial Fibrillation Ongoing as OMEICOS Evaluates Therapeutic Paradigm in Additional Indication Areas
OMEICOS Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class small molecule therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases including atrial fibrillation, today announced the approval of a new grant by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The grant of approximately €1.7 million covers half of the investment needed to advance an OMEICOS research project with the other half coming from the funds secured in a Series B round from an investor consortium including Vesalius Biocapital II S.A. SICAR, a SMS Group company, VC Fonds Technologie Berlin, Hightech Gründerfonds II GmbH & Co. KG (HTGF), KfW Group and The Falck Revocable Trust, Ascenion GmbH and members of the management team earlier this year. The project will facilitate further research activities into OMEICOS’ novel approach to treat cardiovascular diseases and to explore its potential in other areas of high unmet medical need. With this renewed support from the German government as part of the Ascenion Spinnovator program, OMEICOS has secured so far roughly €4 million non-dilutive funding.
“With the Series B closed earlier this year and continued support by the BMBF, OMEICOS is well positioned to enter the next stage of its corporate development. While clinical development of our lead development candidate OMT-28 advances through the clinic in atrial fibrillation, we will continue exploring other potential applications of the unique mode of action in other areas within the cardiovascular space and beyond,” commented Dr. Robert Fischer, CSO and co-founder of OMEICOS.
OMEICOS’ lead compound, OMT-28, is a stable synthetic small molecule analog of a natural occurring omega-3 fatty acid metabolite, which has a structure optimized to provide high efficacy, safety and oral bioavailability. OMT-28 has demonstrated anti-arrhythmic and cardioprotective potential in different in vivo models and is currently being evaluated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1 study in Germany.
About Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in humans. AF is characterized by an irregular heart rhythm originating from the heart’s upper chambers, resulting in inefficient blood pumping. AF leads to a significant reduction in quality of life, increases the risk of stroke, raises the risk of heart failure, and doubles the risk of death.
About OMEICOS
OMEICOS Therapeutics is a spin-off company from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin. The company has discovered a series of metabolically robust synthetic analogues of omega-3 fatty acid-derived epoxyeicosanoids, that have the potential to treat inflammatory, cardiovascular, and other diseases. Epoxyeicosanoids as a newly described class of bioactive lipid mediators activate cell type-specific endogenous pathways that promote organ and tissue protection. OMEICOS’ small molecules are orally available and show improved biological activity and pharmacokinetic properties compared to their natural counterparts. OMEICOS’ technology is based on ground-breaking scientific results in the field of omega-3 fatty acid metabolism and physiology obtained by the companies’ founders Drs. Wolf-Hagen Schunck, John. R. Falck, Dominik Müller and Robert Fischer. www.omeicos.com
Contact
OMEICOS Therapeutics GmbH
Dr. Robert Fischer, Chief Scientific Officer and Managing Director
Phone: +49 (0) 30 9489 4810
E-Mail: r.fischer@omeicos.com
www.omeicos.com
Media requests
MacDougall Biomedical Communications
Gretchen Schweitzer or Mario Brkulj
Phone: +49 (0) 89 2423 3494 or +49 175 5010575
E-Mail: mbrkulj@macbiocom.com
