Omnio raises 1.5M EUR in successful series A funding.
Omnio AB, a private biopharmaceutical company developing recombinant plasminogen to heal chronic wounds announces a successful 1.5M EUR funding round. The funds will be allocated to develop a manufacturing process for the recombinant plasminogen drug product and conduct efficacy studies of the drug candidate in animal models for wound healing.
"We are extremely happy with the continued support received from our shareholders. With the funds we will be able to finish the process optimization and test the drug candidate. At completion, the next steps will be the pre-clinical safety and clinical trials" says CEO Ulrika Norin.
Chronic wounds that do not heal, constitute a significant suffering for patients and is a considerable economic burden for the healthcare system. The healthcare costs are growing rapidly due to an aging population and a sharp increase in the prevalence of diabetes and obesity. Plasminogen, an endogenous protein, is a key regulator of the wound healing process and stimulates healing in patients with chronic wounds. Omnio develops a scalable and cost-effective recombinant version of plasminogen to be used in patients with chronic ulcers.
At present, there is a lack of clinically useful biologically active drugs that stimulate the healing of diabetic wounds. Current treatments of chronic wounds, are insufficient and mostly based on dressing and pressure technology and the drug development pipeline is thin. The multifunctional effect of plasminogen on the wound healing process has considerable therapeutic and competitive advantages compared to current treatments. Additionally, infections are one of the confounding reasons as to why wounds do not heal and become chronic, hard-to-heal ulcers. By enhancing the immune response with plasminogen treatment, one could also prevent and treat infections in the wounds, including infections with antibiotic resistant bacteria.
"The joint effort and successful collaboration with our manufacturer have shown very promising results", continues Ulrika. With the additional funds we will develop an optimized up-stream and downstream process to manufacture our drug substance and start to scale-up the production. A scalable and cost-effective process is a pre-requisite for continuing our developmental plan and starting our clinical trials. More importantly it will lower treatment costs which leads to better accessibility to patients suffering from chronic wounds and give Omnio a great position to become a key player within advanced wound care. With a robust production of recombinant plasminogen, we are in a great position to grow as a company, and expand the use of plasminogen to other therapeutic areas. The optimized drug substance will be tested in relevant animal models to ensure a biologically active and functional drug candidate.
The company is scheduled to conduct the first clinical trial in patients with diabetic foot ulcers beginning of 2024.
About Plasminogen:
Plasminogen is an abundant endogenous protein produced by the liver and circulates through-out the body via the bloodstream. Plasminogen is the pro-enzyme of the protease plasmin. Originally discovered for its fibrinolytic properties and function in dissolving blood clots, its function in wound healing has more recently been described. Through animal studies it has been shown that plasminogen is involved in the initiation, resolution, and proliferative phases of the inflammatory process during wound healing and a lack of plasminogen severely disrupts the normal wound healing cascade.
About Omnio AB:
Omnio AB is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of new drug products based on the pro-inflammatory and immunoregulatory effects of the protein plasminogen. Omnio focuses on developing recombinant plasminogen for chronic wound healing, where initial physician-led studies of patients with chronic wounds have shown great potential. Our ambition is to change todays wound healing treatment and provide an effective alternative to patients where effective bioactive treatment is lacking.
For further information, please contact:
Ulrika Norin, CEO, Omnio AB
Email: [email protected]
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