Cerium Closes $12 million Series B financing
- Proceeds to advance Cerium’s synthetic ACTH development program into Phase 3
- Financing led by Alexandria Biotech, LLC
- Appoints Dr. Robert J. Rubin to the Board of Directors
November 9th, 2021, Gaithersburg, MD. – Cerium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceuticals company focused on developing medicines for rare and orphan diseases, today announced that it has closed a $12 million Series B financing. The financing was led by Alexandria Biotech, LLC of Alexandria, VA, and included several private, high net worth investors.
The Series B round brings Cerium’s total funding to $19 million since the Company embarked on it’s current ACTH development program. With the current funding, Cerium is well positioned to bring it’s synthetic adrenocorticotropic hormone (SNP-ACTH[1-39] Gel) into a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial demonstrating superiority to Rituxan in first line therapy for the treatment of patients with primary membranous nephropathy (PMN). Membranous nephropathy (MN) is a frequent cause of nephrotic syndrome (NS) in nondiabetic adults. Eighty percent of MN is classified as PMN (also referred as idiopathic membranous nephropathy), a kidney-specific autoimmune glomerular disease, more specifically referred to as a podocytopathy; 20% of MN is classified as secondary, due to a variety of other illnesses.
Based on Cerium’s recently completed meeting with the Cardio/Renal division of the FDA, Cerium expects to dose the first patient in the Phase 3 trial in Q2 2022.
In addition to strengthening its cash position with the Series B financing, Cerium has also strengthened its Board of Directors with the appointment of Dr. Robert J. Rubin, MD. Dr. Rubin is Cerium’s Acting Chief Medical Officer. He is a Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University, a nephrologist, and an independent healthcare consultant. Dr. Rubin’s research interests include regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and dialysis. He has undertaken a lifelong interest in disease management, public health policy, epidemiology and health economics and patient quality of life assessment. Dr. Rubin is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Soligenix, Inc.
Contact
Nancy Klett, Vice President, Project Management
(301) 963-2400
