KalVista seals £8m funding for DME research
UK firm focuses on small molecule plasma kallikrein inhibitors
KalVista Pharmaceuticals, an ophthalmology start-up focused on diabetic macular edema (DME), has raised £8m in a Series A financing round from life sciences investors Novo A/S and SV Life Sciences.
The Southampton, UK-based company is developing novel, small molecule plasma kallikrein inhibitors, which it says are a new approach to the treatment of DME, a leading cause of adult visual loss in developed countries and a major unmet medical need.
KalVista's pre-clinical product pipeline is targeting both intravitreal injection and oral administration routes. KalVista acquired these inhibitors plus all relevant intellectual property from Vantia Therapeutics.
KalVista's scientific founders include Dr Lloyd Paul Aiello, Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and Dr Edward Feener, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
KalVista is supporting the therapeutic expertise with a management team with experience in bringing small molecules to commercialisation. This team is led by Andrew Crockett as ceo and includes the former discovery group from Vantia Therapeutics. This group developed the library of proprietary plasma kallikrein inhibitors, including the lead compounds that now form the basis of KalVista's discovery platform.
The KalVista board of directors will include Crockett with Graham Boulnois of SV Life Sciences as chairman and Martin Edwards of Novo A/S as non-executive director.
Boulnois said: ‘The exciting discoveries regarding plasma kallikrein inhibition and its potential as a new approach to treating DME have created a significant opportunity.
‘We believe that in KalVista we have put in place all the necessary scientific, clinical and drug discovery and development expertise, and sufficient funding, to capitalise on this opportunity and create a highly differentiated and valuable company.’
