Lung Therapeutics, which specializes in therapies for fibrosis, lung injury and lung disease, announced that it has raised $14.3 million in Series B financing.
The funding will support ongoing clinical trials in Australia and New Zealand to assess the company’s LTI-01 drug, as well as the development of LTI-03— a transformative drug for patients with pulmonary fibrosis.
Clinical trials will evaluate the role of LTI-01 in treating patients experiencing complications of pneumonia, including empyema and complicated parapneumonic effusions — both of which can lead to scarring within the pleura, a thin tissue that surrounds the lung. That, in turn, prevents fluid from draining from the lungs, leading to a host of complications and increased mortality.
Lung Therapeutics estimates that LTI-01 could annually help more than 100,000 Americans with these types of complications.
LTI-03 is designed specifically to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic lung disease that causes scarring to the lungs and has a five-year mortality rate of nearly 80 percent. The company, which is based in Austin, Texas, said LTI-03 has also shown promise in treating other types of fibrotic disease including scleroderma and cardiac fibrosis.
“We see tremendous potential in LTI-03’s ability to not only slow progression but potentially resolve fibrosis in numerous model indications.” Aaron Fletcher, a member of the company’s board of directors and managing partner at Bios Partners, said in a press release.
“We are pursuing unique, proprietary treatments that eliminate the need for surgery and ineffective off-label drugs for patients with loculated pleural effusion as well as new drugs for fibrosis indications such as IPF, scleroderma and cardiac fibrosis,” added Brian Windsor, CEO of Lung Therapeutics. “This brings new hope to a global patient population whose only treatment options are currently limited and expensive. We aim to create better therapeutic options for these and other underserved, life-threatening lung and fibrosis conditions.”
The company says it will keep developing drugs for the non-surgical treatment of pulmonary fibrosis and other respiratory complications.