The German firm raised just under €14m ($18m) in a financing round completed late last week which – according to CEO Bernhard Gunther – it will use for development of its drug delivery platform and expansion of its pharmaceutical product portfolio.
“With the funding we will bring our CyclAsol to treat dry Eye Syndrome into Phase I in the first quarter of 2014,” Gunther told in-Pharmatechnologist.com, adding that “we will broaden our OTC-Eyedrop pipeline and our pharmaceutical pipeline as well.”
Novaliq’s technology is based on based on semifluorinated alkanes (SFA) which are used to dissolve otherwise insoluble drugs so they can be delivered in liquid form.
Gunther explained that the platform – which Novaliq uses on its in-house products and licenses to other drugmakers - is designed to improve the delivery of treatments for diseases of the eye, even those drug candidates that have unfavorable bioavailability profiles.
“The platform is aqueous free. A core feature of our platform is that we can dissolve poorly soluble drugs, instead of having to prepare emulsions. Like in the case of CyclaSol, as the name indicates, it is a clear solution in contrast to emulsions of other approaches.
“Other inherent features are that the formulation does not need preservatives, no blurred vision after putting a drop into the eye, and it improves stability because no water is present,” Gunther continued.
Novaliq is a subsidiary of the Geuder Group, which is a manufacturer of ophthalmic instruments used during surgery.
Novaliq was established in 2004 as a development vehicle for drug delivery technologies for eye diseases and respiratory disorders based on SFAs as carrier fluids for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
The latest funding round is the fifth the unit has completed.