Oxagen raises £16M in third round funding

Funding

Oxagen Ltd, a drug discovery and development company specialising in inflammation, has closed a £16 Million third round of funding led by new investor Novartis Venture Funds.

The proceeds of the funding will be used to advance Oxagen’s CRTH2 antagonist programme in inflammatory and respiratory diseases, including the completion of an ongoing Phase IIb clinical study of the lead molecule OC000459 in moderate persistent asthma. This follows the successful completion of proof-of-concept (POC) studies in both asthma and allergic rhinitis.

The company also intends to expand the indications for its CRTH2 antagonists. CRTH2 is a well-understood, public domain target that is currently attracting a high level of interest.  

Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer of Oxagen, said, “We are delighted to welcome Novartis Ventures as a new investor in Oxagen. We are excited by the potential shown to date by CRTH2 antagonists in general and by OC000459 in particular. This funding will allow us to both advance and broaden the therapeutic utility of our portfolio of molecules. We are delighted that this potential has been recognised both by our new lead investor, as well as by our strong base of existing investors.”

Anja König, Managing Director at Novartis Venture Funds said, “CRTH2 is a very promising new target in asthma and inflammation and Oxagen’s lead compound has the potential to become a blockbuster.”

Oxagen was spun out of Oxford University in 1997 as a genomics specialist, raising £30 million in its first venture capital round at the height of the genomics boom in 2000. Through its family gene-disease association studies it was the first to discover that CRTH2 has an important role in asthma and other inflammatory diseases.

Subsequent discoveries by others of the direct role CRTH2 plays in the release of inflammation-generating eosinophils have confirmed Oxagen’s work and also attracted others to invest in this target.