Milwaukee-based Promentis Pharmaceuticals Inc. has started clinical trials for its lead compound, the company announced today.
The company also elaborated on how its lead pharmaceutical compound, SXC-2023, would ultimately be used. The Phase 1 single ascending dose study will focus on trichotillomania, a condition in which the patient pulls his or her hair out. The disorder, which affects about 1 percent of Americans, is believed to be exacerbated by glutamatergic imbalance and oxidative stress, which Promentis’ compound targets, the company said.
There are four phases of clinical trials before a drug can be brought to market.
Promentis also has closed the second tranche of its $26 million series C funding round, led by OrbiMed, F-Prime Capital Partners and Aisling Capital. Black Pearl GmbH, individual investors and the Brookfield-based Golden Angel Network, which previously invested in Promentis, also reinvested in the company in this round.
The new influx of funding is expected to bring Promentis through the clinical development of the compound for trichotillomania and other neuropsychiatric disorders, to the Phase 2 clinical proof od concept.
The company previously raised the first portion of this Series C round, nearly $8.8 million, in the fall, which it is using for research and development and general corporate purposes. Promentis raised more than $3.1 million in its Series B round and $1.9 million in a Series A round.
The company was founded in 2007 by Dr. David Baker, a Marquette University professor and associate chair in MU’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, and John Mantsch, the chair of Marquette’s Department of Biomedical Sciences.
The company’s technology was in-licensed by Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“Promentis has met a number of key milestones in the past year,” said Daniel Lawton, president of Promentis. “The company is particularly pleased to have commenced its clinical program and remains well-positioned to start its Phase 2 clinical work late next year. Promentis is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of patients with trichotillomania and other neuropsychiatric disorders.”
