EpiEndo a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on a novel barrier enhancing approach to the treatment of chronic inflammatory airway diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), announces the closing of a €20m Series A financing round led by Flerie Invest and Iðunn Venture Fund, with existing investors ABC Ventures participating, along with the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund joining the round. The financing secures funds to advance the clinical development of EpiEndo’s lead compound EP395, which entered phase I clinical trials in April, through Phase IIa, targeting COPD as a primary indication. EpiEndo’s development rationale is based on a newly acknowledged therapeutic paradigm, that loss of integrity of epithelial barriers plays a critical role in propagating chronic inflammatory diseases in lungs and contributes to vulnerability to infections associated with acute exacerbations of airway diseases.

“I am delighted to announce the closing of this new investment round,” commented Ms Maria Bech, CEO of EpiEndo Pharma. “We are very pleased to welcome such well-reputed investors as Flerie Invest and Iðunn Venture Fund to help us build our company and are honoured that the European Innovation Council Fund has chosen EpiEndo as its first follow-on investment. ‘’

Macrolide antibiotics such as azithromycin have been known for decades to exhibit good disease-modifying efficacy against many chronic inflammatory airway diseases in addition to their antibacterial properties, in which their long-term use reduces the frequency and severity of inflammatory flare-ups and exacerbations. Although beneficial for overall health and prognosis, their off-label use in these patient populations has led to the emergence of macrolide resistance in the host flora.

EpiEndo’s lead compound EP395 is a new chemical entity in which the epithelial regenerative properties and anti-inflammatory effects seen with macrolides have been augmented, and the anti-bacterial properties removed. Using this Series A funding, EpiEndo aims to advance the clinical development of EP395 towards approval as the first disease-modifying non-antibiotic macrolide that can be prescribed safely and effectively as a long-term treatment for patients with COPD.