MAP pockets $30m for pulmonary tech
in a second-round stock financing with several top-tier
biotechnology investors and says it will use the proceeds to
progress its inhaled steroid and Tempo Inhaler technology.
Proceeds from this financing will also be used to advance the clinical development of the company's inhaled drug products for the treatment of asthma and migraine.
MAP Pharmaceuticals' lead product candidate, which is scheduled to enter Phase II clinical trials in the autumn, is a novel nebulised form of budesonide, a corticosteroid currently used to treat paediatric asthma.
Preclinical and Phase I clinical data for MAP's unit dose budesonide (UDB) product demonstrate that the drug was delivered more than 20 per cent faster than current inhaled therapeutics, with approximately one-third more drug consistently delivered to the lung.
Current therapies require young children to endure up to 20-minute administrations, twice daily. MAP says its UDB product offers the potential to improve the quality of life for these young patients and their families by providing shorter dosing sessions and more effective administration.
Meanwhile, the Tempo Inhaler is described as a next-generation pressurised metered dose inhaler (pMDI) that has been shown to deliver drug to the lungs efficiently and consistently. Both these technologies were originally developed by Sheffield Pharmaceuticals, which ceased operating last year.
MAP's Thomas Armer said: "The funds will also support our goal to partner Tempo with companies in need of a next generation inhalation delivery platform."
