Delhi-based biopharmaceutical firm Vyome Biosciences Pvt. Ltd said on Monday it has received $14 million (Rs 94 crore) in a Series C funding round led by New York-based life sciences fund Perceptive Advisors and Boston-based venture capital firm Romulus Capital.
Existing investors, including Kalaari Capital, Sabre Partners and Aarin Capital, also participated in this round, Vyome said in a statement.
Vyome will use the funds mainly to advance the clinical development of its lead product, VB 1953, a topical therapeutic candidate for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acne, said Venkateswarlu Nelabhotla, co-founder and CEO.
Vyome’s VB 1953 targets the potential $2 billion market of antibiotic resistant acne in the US where acne represents the most common skin disease, affecting 85% of teenagers and affects 40-50 million people, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. The company said that the US Food and Drug Administration had recently accepted its application for VB 1953, an investigational new drug, and that the company will soon start clinical studies in the US.
Investments in drug discovery companies are seen as a long-term and risky bet but investors have been pouring money into such firms. Successful development of lead molecules could make such companies attractive potential investment or acquisition targets.
“This influx of funding also validates our hypothesis that innovation-driven R&D can attract top global investors,†said Shiladitya Sengupta, co-Founder of Vyome and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Apart from VB 1953, Vyome has a pipeline of preclinical new chemical entities based on its patented Dual Action Rational Therapeutics technology. It also has clinically proven antifungal products based on its Molecular Replacement Therapy technology platform, for which it is pursuing commercialization talks globally.
Vyome, set up in 2010, raised $3.35 million from Kalaari Capital, Navam Capital and Aarin Capital in 2012 in its Series A round. It secured $8 million in a Series B round led by Sabre Partners, with participation of Kalaari Capital and Aarin Capital, in August 2014.
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