SAN DIEGO, May 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ansun BioPharma, Inc., a leading biotechnology company focused on the development of novel broad spectrum anti-viral biologic therapeutics to combat severe viral respiratory tract infections, today announced the completion of an $85 million Series A financing round.
The round was led by Sinopharm Healthcare Fund and Lilly Asia Ventures. Additional new investors participating in this round included Lyfe Capital, Yuanming Capital, Matrix Partners China, 3e Bioventures Capital, Oceanpine Capital, VI Ventures, and Joincap Investment.
Ansun plans to use the proceeds from the Series A to fund a Phase 3 clinical trial of its experimental anti-viral medication, DAS181. The FDA has granted both Fast Track status and Breakthrough therapy designation to DAS181, and Ansun is currently in the planning stage of a Phase 3 trial to treat hospitalized, immunocompromised subjects infected with parainfluenza virus.
DAS181 is a potentially first-in-class therapeutic that can be used to treat respiratory viral infections, including, but not limited to influenza, parainfluenza, and metapneumovirus. DAS181 is a recombinant sialidase protein that can cleave sialic acid, the virus receptors located on the surface of epithelial cells aligning the human respiratory track. Treatment with DAS181 can block virus entry into respiratory epithelial cells, thus preventing viral infection and spreading. DAS181 is a host-directed therapeutic that has demonstrated anti-viral activity against all strains and subtypes of viruses that utilize this receptor, including influenza strains that have developed resistance to other drugs and pandemic strains, such as H7N9, H5N1, and H1N1 and many others. This broad activity provides Ansun a unique opportunity to develop and commercialize DAS181 for treatment of many different viral infections. To date, Ansun has created formulations of this drug which it is developing to treat both hospitalized influenza and hospitalized parainfluenza , both of which are areas of unmet medical need that cause hundreds of thousands of deaths each year around the world.
Ansun has also announced changes to its Board. Dr. Xiaoming Yang from Sinopharm Capital and Dr. Yi Shi from Lilly Asia Ventures will be joining the Board. Mr. Donald Payne and Dr. Michael Chao will also be joining the Board. They will serve alongside existing Board members Dr. Allen Chao, Dr. Nancy Chang, and Dr. Michael Chang.
"We are delighted to secure this strong financial support from some of the most highly regarded biotechnology investment groups in the world," said Dr. Nancy Chang, the interim CEO of Ansun. "And just as important, if not more important, than their financial support is the depth of knowledge and experience our Board will gain with our new Board members," explained Dr. Chang.
"We are very pleased to be leading this round in Ansun against a backdrop of increasing threat worldwide from very dangerous respiratory infectious diseases like influenza and parainfluenza," said Dr. Yang. "We look forward to working closely with the Company, its Board of Directors and its management to rapidly progress the development of DAS181 so that it can benefit as many people as quickly as possible," he added.
About Ansun BioPharma
Ansun BioPharma is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, California focused on the development of unique host-directed anti-viral therapies for respiratory viruses. Ansun is currently working with FDA to plan and implement a Phase 3 clinical trial of DAS181 for the treatment of PIV infection in hospitalized and immunocompromised patients. In addition to Breakthrough Designation, DAS181 has also received Fast Track designation by the U.S. FDA for this indication. Recently the company has observed activity of DAS181 against other important respiratory pathogens based on the same host-directed anti-viral mechanism. For more information, please visit www.ansunbiopharma.com or www.clinicaltrials.gov using the identifier NCT01644877.
SOURCE Ansun BioPharma
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