Sparrow Pharmaceuticals raised another $10.2 million, which it plans to use to further its clinical trials for a promising drug candidate.
The bulk of the funding round, $10 million, comes from its current investors, led by OrbiMed, U.S. Venture Partners and RiverVest Venture Partners, Sparrow founder David Katz said.
“It’s a vote of confidence because the investors are excited about how the clinical trials are going and want to give us the runway, so we can advance rapidly to the next larger stage of clinical trials, while we’re figuring out how to fully finance those trials,” Katz said Tuesday.
He and other angel investors put in another $200,000 as well, bringing the startup's cumulative investment raises to around $76 million, Katz said.
Sparrow is developing novel, targeted therapies for disorders caused by excess corticosteroids, which can be produced by the body or derive from medications for autoimmune or inflammatory diseases. About 2 million patients in the U.S. are on corticosteroids, such as prednisone, which come with serious side effects, including fractures, diabetes, stroke and glaucoma.
The company has three phase 2 clinical trials ongoing in the U.S. and Europe.
“They are going along according to expectations, and we should have final results from all three trials by the end of the year,” Katz said.
