Karuna Announces $68 Million Series B Financing
March 18 2019 - 2:00AM
Business Wire
Proceeds will be used to advance clinical
development of lead product candidate, KarXT, for additional
indications beyond the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial in
schizophrenia and for expansion of the pipeline
Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. (“Karuna,” formerly Karuna
Pharmaceuticals), focused on targeting muscarinic cholinergic
receptors for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders including
psychosis in schizophrenia, psychosis in Alzheimer’s disease, and
pain, today announced the completion of a $68 million Series B
financing round, including the issuance of $5 million in shares
upon conversion of debt into equity.
The financing was led by ARCH Venture Partners, with
participation from Fidelity Management & Research Company,
Eventide Asset Management, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, Partner
Fund Management, Wellcome Trust, Sands Capital, Alexandria Venture
Investments, and founder PureTech Health. Heather Preston, M.D.,
managing director of Pivotal bioVenture Partners, has joined the
board of directors of Karuna.
KarXT, Karuna’s lead product candidate, is currently being
evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial as a potential treatment for
acute psychosis in patients with schizophrenia. Proceeds from the
financing will be used to advance the development of KarXT into
several new indications, including geriatric psychosis and pain,
progress new formulations of KarXT, expand the pipeline, and
continue to build company infrastructure.
“Patients living with schizophrenia often must choose among
treatment options that only partly address their disabling
psychotic and cognitive symptoms, often with undesirable side
effects. Karuna’s mission is to deliver a more effective and
better-tolerated treatment for this large and underserved patient
population. We believe this financing will enable us to deliver
multiple milestones across our product-focused pipeline while
expanding the capabilities and potential of our muscarinic receptor
platform,” said Steve Paul, M.D., chief executive officer and
chairman of the board of Karuna.
“Karuna has continued to make strong progress advancing its
pipeline, including ongoing enrollment in their Phase 2 clinical
trial for the treatment of acute psychosis in patients with
schizophrenia, and we are encouraged by the data supporting this
novel approach to addressing a core symptom of a variety of
disabling and all-too-common central nervous system disorders,”
said Robert Nelsen, co-founder and managing director of ARCH
Venture Partners. “As an investor focused on companies with
innovative approaches to meeting patient needs, we are pleased to
support the next stage of Karuna’s development.”
About KarXTKarXT (Karuna-Xanomeline-Trospium),
Karuna’s lead product candidate for the treatment of psychosis in
schizophrenia, consists of xanomeline, a novel muscarinic
acetylcholine receptor agonist that has demonstrated efficacy in
placebo-controlled human trials in schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s
disease, and trospium chloride, an FDA-approved and
well-established muscarinic receptor antagonist that has been shown
not to enter the central nervous system (CNS). KarXT is designed to
preferentially target M1/M4 muscarinic receptors in the brain while
inhibiting their stimulation in peripheral tissues to significantly
improve tolerability. Karuna has completed two Phase 1 clinical
trials which demonstrated a clinically meaningful reduction in side
effects compared to xanomeline and demonstrated that KarXT is well
tolerated in healthy volunteers. A proprietary co-formulation of
xanomeline and trospium in a single capsule was used in the second
Phase 1 clinical trial and is now being evaluated in an ongoing
Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with schizophrenia experiencing
acute psychosis. Top-line data from this trial are anticipated by
the end of 2019. A Phase 1b experimental pain trial in healthy
volunteers and clinical work towards geriatric psychosis are
expected to begin later this year.
About Karuna TherapeuticsKaruna is a clinical-stage drug
development company focused on targeting muscarinic cholinergic
receptors for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders including
psychosis in schizophrenia, psychosis in Alzheimer’s disease, and
pain. Karuna's lead product candidate, KarXT,
(Karuna-Xanomeline-Trospium) is being evaluated in a Phase 2
clinical trial in patients with schizophrenia experiencing acute
psychosis, with top-line results anticipated at the end of 2019.
Karuna, which was founded by PureTech Health (LSE: PRTC),
has a worldwide exclusive license for xanomeline and has a patent
portfolio more broadly covering selective muscarinic targeting
enabled by the KarXT approach. For more information,
visit karunatx.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190318005197/en/
InvestorsJason Brown+1 857 449
2239investors@karunatx.com
U.S. mediaTom Donovan+1 857 559
3397tom@tenbridgecommunications.com
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