Jeito Capital leads oversubscribed $92 million Series C financing round in Pulmocide

Jeito Capital leads oversubscribed $92 million Series C financing round in Pulmocide

• Jeito selects Pulmocide as its fourth investment since launching the fund
• Pulmocide is a late-stage biopharma company focused on the development of novel treatments for life-threatening respiratory diseases

Paris, France, 27 May 2021 – Jeito Capital (“Jeito”), a rapidly emerging independent Private Equity firm dedicated to biotech and biopharma, today announces that it has led an oversubscribed $92million Series C financing round in Pulmocide, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for patients suffering from serious acute and chronic respiratory diseases. Jeito led the financing round in a high-quality syndicate with new investors Adjuvant Capital and Asahi Kasei Pharma, together with participation from existing investors, SV Health Investors, SR One, IP2IPO, F-Prime Capital, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC Inc., and Longwood Capital. Sabine Dandiguian, Managing Partner at Jeito Capital, will join Pulmocide’s Board of Directors.

Proceeds from the financing will be primarily used to advance Pulmocide’s lead asset PC945 for the treatment of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis (IPA), through a Phase III registration program in patients who have failed prior therapy. The financing will also help fund the planning and development of the Company’s commercial operations for PC945 starting with the US and Europe, and begin exploring the use of the compound in other clinical, chronic indications.

PC945, is a potent, novel inhaled triazole antifungal being developed for the treatment of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis, a disease associated with high mortality and morbidity. Designed specifically for inhalation, PC945’s pharmaceutical properties enable high lung retention, with little uptake into the systemic circulation, ensuring delivery of a high concentration of the drug directly to the site of infection.

Rafaèle Tordjman, founder and CEO of Jeito, said “We are delighted to be investing in Pulmocide at such an exciting time in its development and to have a fourth fantastic addition to Jeito’s growing international and diversified portfolio. With this mature asset in clinical stage, Jeito also anchors its unique investment strategy, which aims at providing growth capital, particularly in European Biotech and Biopharma companies developing cutting-edge and life-saving therapies.”

Sabine Dandiguian, Managing Partner at Jeito, said: “We strongly believe in Pulmocide’s first-in-class science and are thrilled to support its ambitious strategy for the commercialization of PC945. We look forward to working with an experienced team that hold such a successful track record within the pulmonary field as they aim to deliver a potentially transformative treatment for patients suffering from Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis and beyond.”

Dan Burgess, Chief Executive Officer at Pulmocide, said: “We are thrilled to have closed this financing round, which demonstrates the excitement surrounding the potential of PC945 for the treatment of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis, as well as other indications. Building on the positive preclinical and clinical data we have already gathered on PC945, we look forward to be partnering with both new and existing investors as we progress the drug through registration and towards commercialization, providing much needed global access to patients suffering from chronic aspergillus infections.”

ENDS

About Jeito Capital
Jeito Capital is a global leading investment company with a patient benefit driven approach that finances and accelerates ground-breaking medical innovation. Jeito empowers and supports entrepreneurs through its expert, integrated, multi-talented team and through the investment of significant capital to ensure the growth of companies, building market leaders in their respective therapeutic areas with accelerated patients’ access in Europe & the United States. Jeito Capital is based in Paris with a presence in Europe and the United States. For more information, please visit www.jeito.life, or follow on Twitter @Jeito_life or LinkedIn.

About Pulmocide
Pulmocide Ltd (www.pulmocide.com) is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for patients suffering from serious acute and chronic respiratory diseases. Pulmocide’s lead product is PC945, a novel antifungal specifically designed for inhaled use to maximize the amount of drug in the lung and spare systemic exposure. This is expected to provide for superior efficacy against respiratory Aspergillosis while minimizing systemic toxicities. PC945 is expected to be useful in a variety of conditions where Aspergillus has been implicated.

About Pulmonary Aspergillosis
The incidence of pulmonary fungal disease has increased substantially over the past two decades; Aspergillus species being the most common of these. Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is associated with a high mortality and morbidity rate in immuno-compromised patients including those undergoing hematological stem cell or solid organ transplantation, (particularly lung transplants) and some patients in critical care, including those with COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillus. Aspergillus infection also plays an important role in severe asthma and cystic fibrosis and has been correlated with poorer clinical outcome in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Chronic lung infections with Aspergillus can leave patients with extensive and permanent lung damage, requiring lifetime antifungal treatment.

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