SciFluor raises US$30m in funding to move fluorine-based treatments into clinical development
The company recently received two US patents for potential treatments for retinal and neurological diseases
SciFluor Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Allied Minds, a US science and technology development company, has raised US$30m to move its flourine-based treatments for retinal diseases and neurological diseases into clinical development.
The company, based in Cambridge, MA, says it is using fluorine to 'create drugs with improved potency, selectivity, dosing and metabolic stability across multiple diseases'.
SciFluor recently announced the issue of two US patents; one for SF0166, a small molecule integrin antagonist to topically treat retinal disease, including Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Diabetic Macular Edema (DME), through eye drop administration to the surface of the eye; and the other for SF0034, a neuronal potassium channel activator targeted for development in partial-onset epilepsy and potentially for a recently identified orphan disease, KCNQ2 paediatric encephalopathy.
In addition to the funding, SciFluor has appointed William Koster as Chairman. Koster was previously President and Chief Executive of biotechnology company Neurogen. He also spent 30 years with Bristol-Myers Squibb.
'SciFluor is successfully making the transition to a clinical development company. The opportunity to place these innovative discoveries into protocols for clinical testing and development is incredibly exciting, and I’m pleased to be a part of the next stage of this company’s commercial development,' he said.
