KaNDy Therapeutics, a UK-based biotech has raised £25 million to finance the Phase 2b trial of their breakthrough product in Women’s Health.
Our investors and the KaNDy management team are united by the common belief that NT-814 has the potential to be a transformational treatment for the millions of women worldwide who suffer debilitating symptoms of the menopause.
Dr Mary Kerr
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at KaNDy Therapeutics
Neuro conditions are a notoriously difficult area in which to develop drugs owing to the complexity of the patient group and commonality of the placebo effect in clinical trials. Because of this GSK launched spin-off company, NeRRe Therapeutics. A clinical-stage company for developing a unique pipeline of three neurokinin (NK)-1 antagonists for treating chronic conditions caused by neuronal hypersensitivity associated with neurokinin-1 receptor system dysfunction.
Big Pharma veteran, Mary Kerr has 30 years at GSK behind her and is now the CEO of NeRRe. In 2017 they launched their own spin-off, KaNDy Therapeutics (also led by Kerr) to further develop their drug NT-814 designed to rid women of the dreaded symptoms of menopause.
“The formation of KaNDy enables us to maximise the potential of NT-814 in a range of debilitating Women’s Health conditions. We believe NT-814 is one of the few true innovations in Women’s Health in more than two decades and potentially represents a major breakthrough in areas of significant unmet medical need such as PMVMS. Mary has built up an excellent team who have made substantial progress with NT-814 and we’re looking forward to advancing this exciting new product into a Phase 2b programme,” Said Iain Dukes, Chairman of KaNDy Therapeutics in their press release from 27th September 2017.
Post-menopausal vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes/flushes) affect up to 75% of women going through the menopause. Symptoms can last for 1–2 years after menopause in most women but can continue for up to 10 years or longer in others. Post-menopausal symptoms plague the lives of millions of women every day, worldwide with around 20% of women suffering from debilitating symptoms multiple times a day.
Hot flashes are the main reason menopausal women seek medical help. While not life-threatening these symptoms can have a hugely detrimental effect to women’s personal and professional lives.
Unlike other therapies aimed at treating menopausal symptoms, NT-814 is not based on hormone replacement therapy which can cause multiple undesirable side effects including anxiety and blood clots. Instead, it targets the central nervous system and blocks the action of the neurokinin-1 and 3 receptors whose signalling is a mediator of hot flushes.
The once-daily medication has received much praise and interest from investors over the past year. This week the KaNDy team announced that they had successfully closed a round of Series C financing raising 25m from new US investor Longitude Capital, and existing internationally recognised life sciences investors Advent Life Sciences, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Forbion Capital Partners and OrbiMed.
Commenting on the financing round Mary Kerr said: “We are delighted by the level of enthusiasm and financial support we have received from our investors and would like to welcome Longitude Capital into the syndicate and the board of directors. Our investors and the KaNDy management team are united by the common belief that NT-814 has the potential to be a transformational treatment for the millions of women worldwide who suffer debilitating symptoms of the menopause.”
The money raised will enable KaNDy Therapeutics to advance its breakthrough non-hormonal drug candidate, NT-814, for treatment of multiple symptoms of the menopause, through a multi-country Phase 2b dose-ranging study due to start recruiting patients in Q4 2018 with headline results expected in late 2019.
