- Closes $35 million financing to advance Phase 2 and Phase 3 programs with drug candidate ANG-3777
- Announces appointments of Jay R. Venkatesan, M.D. as President and Chief Executive Officer, and John F. Neylan, M.D. as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
UNIONDALE, N.Y., Jan. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Angion Biomedica Corp., a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on kidney diseases and other acute organ injuries, announces the recent closing of a $35 million equity private placement. The financing supports Angion’s ongoing Phase III trial for the treatment of delayed graft function following kidney transplantation and its ongoing Phase II trial for the prevention of acute kidney injury following open-heart surgery in high-risk patients requiring cardiopulmonary bypass. Angion also announces the appointments of Jay R. Venkatesan, M.D. as President and Chief Executive Officer, and John F. Neylan, M.D., as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer.
“Closing our third round of financing allows Angion to accelerate clinical development plans for ANG-3777 in two forms of acute kidney injury. Our Phase III delayed graft function trial investigates whether ANG-3777 can improve outcomes in transplant patients who are experiencing delayed graft function, a serious condition that reduces the long-term viability of the transplanted kidney,” said Jay Venkatesan, M.D., Angion’s President and CEO. “In our Phase II acute kidney injury trial, we are seeking to prevent and mitigate the complications caused by acute kidney injury following cardiac surgery, an increasingly common and deadly complication with no approved pharmacologic interventions. Our recent financing, expanding executive management team, and recently announced strategic partnership and collaboration with Sinovant for China provides Angion with the resources, expertise and partners to rapidly advance ANG-3777 to address these serious diseases.”
GP Nurmenkari, Inc. acted as lead placement agent in connection with the financing, with T.R. Winston and H.C. Wainwright also acting as placement agents. Intuitive Venture Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor for the financing transaction.
Executive Appointments
Dr. Venkatesan was recently appointed to the roles of President and CEO of Angion and played an instrumental role in closing both the previously-announced strategic collaboration with China’s Sinovant and the $35 million financing. Dr. Venkatesan is also a Managing Partner at Alpine BioVentures, a biotechnology venture capital fund. Prior to Angion, Dr. Venkatesan served as President of Alpine Immune Sciences (Nasdaq: ALPN ), which he co-founded as a Managing Partner of Alpine BioVentures, and where he remains on its Board of Directors. Dr. Venkatesan had previously been Executive Vice President and General Manager of Oncothyreon, Inc. (acquired by Seattle Genetics) from August 2014 to May 2015 following Oncothyreon’s acquisition of Alpine Biosciences, where he served as co-founder and CEO. From 2008-2014, Dr. Venkatesan was the Managing Member of Ayer Capital Management, a global healthcare long-short equity fund with $300 million under management. Prior to that, he served as a Director at Brookside Capital Partners, the hedge fund group affiliated with Bain Capital, where he co-managed healthcare investments and evaluated public and private investments in all healthcare subsectors. Earlier in his career, Dr. Venkatesan was involved in healthcare venture investing at Patricof & Co. Ventures (now Apax Partners) and consulting at McKinsey & Company. Dr. Venkatesan received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and his B.A. from Williams College.
Before joining Angion, Dr. Neylan served as Chief Medical Officer of Keryx, a public biopharmaceutical company focused on nephrology. Previously, Dr. Neylan served as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, at Genzyme Corporation, focusing on specialty metabolic diseases. From 2000-2008, Dr. Neylan served as Vice President, Research and Development for Wyeth Research, overseeing the clinical development of transplantation therapeutics and providing medical affairs support to the transplant franchise. Prior to entering the private sector, Dr. Neylan held prestigious positions in academia, including Professor of Medicine at Emory University and Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of California, Davis, serving at both institutions as Medical Director of the respective Renal Transplant Programs, with oversight of the clinical research programs. Dr. Neylan received his B.S. from Duke University and his M.D. from Rush Medical School in Chicago. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Vanderbilt University and fellowships in Nephrology and in Transplantation and Immunogenetics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University. Dr. Neylan has a proven track record for successful INDs, NDA/BLAs, and MAAs involving NCEs, polymers, biologics and RNA-based therapeutics and has authored more than 70 scientific manuscripts and book chapters. He is Past-President of the American Society of Transplantation, past Board Member of the National Kidney Foundation, and a past Industry Representative on the FDA Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee.
About Delayed Graft Function and Acute Kidney Injury
Delayed graft function is a severe form of acute kidney injury, resulting from an ischemia-reperfusion injury, that manifests postoperatively in 20-30% of renal transplantation patients globally and is associated with up to a 40% decrease in long-term transplant success.
Acute kidney injury, or AKI, is defined by an abrupt loss of kidney function and may be caused by a variety of factors. In the surgical setting, AKI is a common complication of open-heart surgery in patients requiring cardiopulmonary bypass. Up to 30% of patients undergoing open-heart surgery experience an acute kidney injury-associated complication, resulting in a five-fold increased risk of death during hospitalization. Risk factors for acute kidney injury in the post-surgical setting include preexisting kidney disease, compromised heart function, exposure to nephrotoxic drugs or contrast agents, advanced age, and diabetes.
About ANG-3777 (previously known as BB3)
ANG-3777 (formerly referred to as BB3) is a potent, small molecule mimetic of hepatocyte growth factor, the sole ligand of the c-Met receptor. Activation of the HGF/c-Met pathway has been shown to reduce acute organ damage resulting from a variety of causative factors by stimulating blood vessel formation, enhancing cell division, decreasing apoptosis, and reducing deposition of extracellular matrix, which can lead to organ dysfunction and fibrosis. In a prior Phase 2 study with ANG-3777 in patients with presumptive delayed graft function post-transplant, patients treated with ANG-3777 were shown to have improved renal function, decreased serum creatinine, and a reduced need for dialysis relative to patients receiving placebo. Angion is currently conducting a Phase 3 registration study with ANG-3777 in patients presenting with early signs of delayed graft function, and a Phase 2 study with ANG-3777 in patients at increased risk for acute kidney injury following cardiovascular surgery.
About Angion
Angion Biomedica Corp. is a biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing novel therapeutic agents for acute and chronic organ diseases and disorders. Angion’s programs are currently focused on renal transplantation, acute kidney injury, and chronic kidney disease, with a pipeline of additional indications and product candidates in discovery and pre-clinical stages. Angion’s founder Itzhak D. Goldberg, M.D. FACR, now Executive Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer, conducted seminal research on tyrosine kinase receptors and the hepatocyte growth factor. This work validated the HGF/c-Met pathway as a potential pharmacological target for intervention in in multiple diseases affecting major organs. For further information, please visit www.angion.com .
Contact for Angion Biomedica:
Elisha Goldberg Director, Business Development 917-420-0666 egoldberg@angion.com
