Otonomy Closes $10 Million Series A Financing

SAN DIEGO, June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Otonomy, Inc. announced today that it has completed a $10 million Series A financing with Avalon Ventures. Proceeds from the financing will be used to support the ongoing clinical trial for OTO-104 in Meniere's disease, initiate IND-enabling studies for OTO-203, and continue early-stage development of a third program.

"We are pleased to complete this financing as an affirmation of the rapid development progress that the company has made since its operational founding less than two years ago," said Jay Lichter, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Otonomy, and managing director of Avalon Ventures. "We also believe this provides a strong foundation to raise additional capital with investors who share our interest in the large untapped market for novel drugs for the treatment of hearing and balance disorders."

Otonomy is conducting a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter Phase 1b study of OTO-104 given as a single intratympanic (IT) injection in subjects with unilateral Meniere's disease. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that OTO-104 can effectively deliver a prolonged and dose proportional exposure of dexamethasone to the inner ear, and is well tolerated in a broad set of safety evaluations.

About Otonomy, Inc.

Otonomy is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel drug therapies for disorders of the inner and middle ear. The company's core technology is a sustained release formulation developed for optimal delivery of drugs from a single intratympanic (IT) injection. Broad applicability of this delivery and formulation technology has already been established across a number of therapeutic classes, and two products have been advanced into active development. The first, OTO-104, is a sustained release formulation of the steroid dexamethasone. A clinical trial has been initiated in Meniere's disease patients, and future studies are being planned for acute hearing loss. Otonomy's second product, OTO-203, is a sustained release antibiotic being developed for the treatment of otitis media.

For more information visit: www.otonomy.com.

SOURCE Otonomy, Inc.