Alderley Park, UK, 14 August 2018– Blueberry Therapeutics Limited, (“Blueberry Therapeutics”) a drug discovery and development company focused on developing innovative nanomedicines for difficult to treat skin and nail infections, today announces that it has successfully completed its £10m Series B Fundraising with investment from China Medical Venture Investment (HK) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Medical System Holdings Limited (“CMS”), and A&B (HK) Company Limited (“A&B”).
Blueberry Therapeutics will use the net proceeds of the Series B Fundraising to fund its development programme for BB2603 for the treatment of onychomycosis and tinea pedis, as well as progressing its earlier stage acne, topical analgesia and atopic dermatitis programmes.
The company’s vision is to discover, develop and bring to market high value nanomedicines that will overcome existing efficacy, tolerability and safety profile concerns and positively impact on treatment outcomes.
Blueberry Therapeutics has a number of pipeline nano-formulated treatments focussing on skin and nail infections where there is a significant clinical need for treatments with improved efficacy, safety, tolerability and patient compliance.
BB2603 (terbinafine-nano) is Blueberry Therapeutics’ lead development drug candidate and will complete a Phase II dose finding study as we approach Phase III clinical development in the US and EU for the treatment of onychomycosis. BB2603 is a novel topical nanoformulation of the established antifungal terbinafine, delivered as a hand pump spray.
Using nanotechnology, BB2603 is designed to greatly enhance delivery of terbinafine to target fungal infection under the nail. BB2603 aims to demonstrate equivalent efficacy and treatment duration but at a dose which is several thousand-fold lower than documented for oral terbinafine, thereby potentially avoiding the systemic side effects and patient monitoring requirements of oral terbinafine.
Dr. John Ridden, Chief Executive Officer of Blueberry Therapeutics said: “I am delighted to have completed the Series B Fundraising which enables us to progress all of our programmes to the next stages of development. In addition, I got to know the CMS team well during negotiations and I firmly believe they are the ideal partner to help us develop and commercialise our products in the Asia region and we look forward to working closely with them.”
Mr. Lam Kong, Chairman,Chief Executive and President of CMS, commented: “We are very pleased to be shareholders in Blueberry Therapeutics and to be able to support the management team in its quest to deliver high value innovative medicines for patients suffering from a range of dermatological disorders and we look forward to collaborating in the development of the Company’s products.”
Bryan, Garnier & Co. Limited acted as Financial Adviser to Blueberry Therapeutics with Slater Heelis LLP providing legal advice to the company on the fundraising investment.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Blueberry Therapeutics Limited
Karen Winterhalter – Onyx Health PR
Tel: +44 (0)7917 571238
E-mail: kwinterhalter@onyxhealth.com
Notes to Editors
About Blueberry Therapeutics Limited
Blueberry Therapeutics Ltd.,incorporated in November 2011, is a drug discovery and development company focused on developing innovative nanomedicines for difficult to treat skin and nail infections. The company is using its state of the art nano-formulation technology to develop high value medicines where a reduced dose and improved drug delivery is needed, to overcome existing tolerability and safety profile concerns.
Blueberry Therapeutics combines expert in-house resources with selected outsource partners and collaborators to take projects through from preclinical research onto de-risked human clinical proof of concept and then on to the market. For more information, please visit https://www.blueberrytherapeutics.com
The management team at Blueberry Therapeutics has strong drug development backgrounds and extensive business experience. Dr. John Ridden, CEO and co-founder of the company, previously worked in Pfizer and AstraZeneca on drug R&D and project management for more than 18 years. Mr. Andrew Kay, Chairman of the Board of Directors, brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical sector. He has led the success of Novartis’s Lamisil and has a good understanding of the relevant markets. https://www.blueberrytherapeutics.com
About China Medical System Holdings Limited
CMS is a specialty pharmaceutical company based in China, focusing on marketing, promotion and sales of prescription drugs and other medicinal products to all therapeutic departments in hospitals nation-wide. CMS builds up its product portfolio for its target markets primarily by asset acquisition, equity investmentandlicensing-in on the global basis as well as in-house R&D. It is listedon the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (867.HK).
About Bryan, Garnier & Co.
Bryan, Garnier & Co. is a European, full service growth-focused independent investment banking partnership founded in 1996. The firm provides equity research, sales and trading, private and public capital raising as well as M&A services to growth companies and their investors. It focuses on key growth sectors of the economy including Technology, Media & Telecoms, Healthcare, Smart Industries & Energy, Consumer, Brands & Retail and Business Services. Bryan, Garnier & Co is a fully registered broker dealer authorized and regulated by the FCA in Europe and the FINRA in the U.S. Bryan, Garnier & Co is headquartered in London, with additional offices in Paris, Munich, Zurich and New York. The firm is a member of the London Stock Exchange and Euronext.
About Slater Heelis
Slater Heelis is a full-service firm offering a range of legal services including Private Client, Company Commercial, Employment, Personal Injury, Residential and Commercial property and Family Law. The firm employs over 150 people across Manchester City Centre, Sale and Timperley.