• Neurovance

  Participated · Series A · Apr 2014

  Neurovance is a clinical-stage, privately held neuroscience-focused company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, developing EB-1020 SR, a non-stimulant candidate for all subtypes of adult ADHD. Interim phase 2a pilot data disclosed a statistically significant 21-point improvement on the ADHD-Rating Scale-IV after 4 weeks (p<0.0001), with final data and secondary assessments scheduled for presentation at the Society for Biological Psychiatry. The company plans to initiate a human abuse liability (HAL) study to evaluate EB-1020's abuse potential versus standard stimulants and aims to expand development to adolescents and children after demonstrating safety and efficacy in adults. Management is led by co-founder and CEO Anthony A. McKinney and other experienced neuroscience drug developers. Neurovance says EB-1020 may offer stimulant-like efficacy with lower abuse potential, addressing a large ADHD market dominated by stimulants. Neurovance was spun out of Euthymics Bioscience to advance EB-1020, a norepinephrine- and dopamine-preferring reuptake inhibitor intended for adult ADHD. The company recently completed a Phase 1 trial in healthy subjects in which EB-1020 was well tolerated and demonstrated a wide therapeutic index. EB-1020’s pharmacology combines potent NE reuptake inhibition with moderate DA inhibition and very modest 5-HT inhibition, suggesting potential symptomatic and comorbidity benefits with low abuse liability. Neurovance also holds a portfolio of research-stage reuptake inhibitors for other CNS disorders. Management includes team members who were involved in development of Strattera, positioning the company to leverage prior ADHD drug-development experience. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has secured new financing to advance clinical development.

• Celladon

  Participated · Equity · May 2012

  Celladon is a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company focused on discovery and development of treatments for cardiovascular diseases. Its lead investigational product candidate is MYDICAR, being developed for the treatment of advanced heart failure. The company recently held an approximately $10M second close of its recently announced funding to support its programs. Celladon intends to use the new capital to advance MYDICAR and to strengthen its activities in Europe. To that end, the company will establish a subsidiary in The Netherlands. Celladon is led by President and CEO Krisztina Zsebo, Ph.D., and added two board members alongside the financing. Celladon is a developer of treatments for cardiovascular diseases based in La Jolla, California. Its lead investigational product, MYDICAR, is a gene therapy program that uses a recombinant adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector to restore production of an enzyme that regulates calcium cycling and contractility in heart muscle cells. The program is designed to treat congestive heart failure and was granted Fast Track Status by the FDA in December 2011. The company plans to advance the clinical development of MYDICAR during the current year. To support those plans Celladon closed a $43M financing led by Pfizer Venture Investments with participation from multiple venture and corporate investors. The financing also resulted in new investor representatives joining the company's board.

• Tibion Bionic Technologies

  Led · Equity · Mar 2011

  Tibion Corporation develops the Bionic Leg, a wearable gait-rehabilitation robot intended to assist stroke survivors with sit-to-stand, overground walking and stair-climbing exercises. Therapists using the Bionic Leg report clinical benefits often from the first session, and the company began marketing the device in January 2010. Tibion says its device provides the assistance and resistance required by a stroke survivor’s weakened leg to promote the “brain re-wiring” believed necessary for gait recovery. Customers span the U.S., including inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities and free-standing physical therapy clinics, and some customers have ordered second and third units. The company reported a surge in placements at the end of 2010 and plans to accelerate roll-out of a new interchangeable battery version of the wearable robot, expand sales and marketing, and ramp up production and support. Tibion is privately held and announced a $10.175 million financing round to support these expansion plans.

• Euthymics Bioscience

  Participated · Series A · Jul 2010

  Euthymics Bioscience is a neuroscience-focused clinical-stage company developing next-generation triple reuptake inhibitors optimized for specific CNS indications. Its lead candidate, EB-1010, is a serotonin-preferring triple reuptake inhibitor for major depression that has demonstrated proof-of-concept efficacy without causing weight gain or loss of sexual function; the company plans a multicenter phase 2b/3a TRIADE trial in the first half of 2011. The second candidate, EB-1020, is a norepinephrine- and dopamine-preferring triple reuptake inhibitor being developed as a non-stimulant treatment for adult ADHD, designed to combine the pharmacology of the two most relevant brain chemicals while avoiding stimulant abuse liability. The company expanded its Series A financing to $28 million (a $4 million addition to a $24 million round that closed in July 2010) to accelerate preclinical development of EB-1020. Proceeds will fund GMP manufacturing of EB-1020, a full GLP preclinical program, and a large phase 1 program to enable further human testing, with the company expecting a potential IND filing by early 2012. Euthymics is a private corporation headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Euthymics Bioscience focuses on developing novel antidepressants, including EB-1010 (formerly DOV 21,947) for patients who do not respond adequately to SSRIs. The company completed the acquisition of DOV Pharmaceutical, giving it a broader pipeline of monoamine reuptake inhibitors targeting CNS disorders such as ADHD, obesity, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and drug addiction. Euthymics plans to begin clinical trials next year, with Maurizio Fava, M.D., serving as principal investigator. The company recently secured financing to support development and the DOV acquisition. Governance changes accompanying the financing include Campbell Murray, M.D., of Novartis Venture Funds serving as chairman and new board members from Venture Investors, Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management and GBS Venture Partners. Operations and development are being advanced from its Cambridge, Massachusetts base.

No current team members are available.