PainCeptor pharma raises $24.4 M Series B investment round

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PainCeptor Pharma Corp., a pharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of chronic and acute pain has raised $24.4 million in a Series B investment round.

Investors in this round include: Desjardins Venture Capital, CDP Capital (managed by VantagePoint Venture Partners), T2C2/Bio 2000, Business Development Bank of Canada and Lothian Partners 27 (sarl) SICAR. To date, PainCeptor has raised a cumulative total of $47 million in venture capital funding.

PainCeptor's two major pain therapeutic programs, targeting NGF (nerve growth factor) and ASICs (acid sensing ion channels), are in late pre-clinical development and are both on track to enter Phase I clinical trials later this year. The proceeds of this investment round will be used primarily to advance these pain programs into clinical development, expand PainCeptor's intellectual property portfolio, and enhance the company's product pipeline.

"Despite the high number of under-treated pain sufferers, there have been few new drugs in recent years with novel mechanisms of action that combine strong efficacy with reduced side effects" commented Dr. Gary Bennett, Canada Senior Research Chair, Department of Anesthesia and Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University. "With its NGF and ASIC antagonist programs, PainCeptor is well positioned amid the leading developers of the most promising next generation therapies to address these large and growing needs."

"We are very excited about the potential of our clinical candidates to treat pain by targeting the peripheral nervous system and provide much needed improvements in pain therapeutics", added Dr. Louis Lamontagne, president and CEO of PainCeptor. "This financing will enable us to rapidly advance our two lead programs into the clinic."