Engage Therapeutics has closed a $23 million Series A financing round led by TPG Biotech that will fund a Phase 2b clinical trial of an inhaled alprazolam for the treatment of acute epileptic seizures. Alexza Pharmaceuticals, which has developed the Staccato alprazolam through Phase 2a, registered the trademark for Engage Therapeutics in 2015.
According to one report, Alexza Pharmaceuticals granted Engage a license for Staccato alprazolam contingent on Engage’s ability to line up investors by the end of August 2017.
Alexza, which was acquired by Grupo Ferrer in 2016, announced the initiation of a Phase 2a trial of Staccato alprazolam in January 2015 and interim results from the study at the end of that year.
Engage Therapeutics President and CEO Gregory T. Mayes commented, “Staccato alprazolam is a disruptive drug-device combination with the potential to become an EpiPen-like rescue treatment for people who experience uncontrolled epileptic seizures. We are grateful for the value our new investors see in this novel drug development program and we look forward to their active involvement as we execute upon a clinical development program that builds on the safety and efficacy data of the Staccato delivery technology with alprazolam, a well-known and established benzodiazepine.”
Engage Chairman Heath Lukatch added, “Benzodiazepines have an established history in the treatment and prevention of epileptic seizures. The Staccato inhaler facilitates rapid administration and uptake of alprazolam, stopping epileptic seizures in a manner of time not previously observed. With the financial resources from the Series A, Engage is now able to complete the Phase 2b clinical development program and prepare for additional clinical and regulatory activities necessary to pursue worldwide product registrations.”
Read the Engage Therapeutics press release.
