University of California, San Francisco spinout Aer Therapeutics has closed a $36 million Series A financing, with funds intended to support development of the company’s AER-01 inhaled mucolytic for the treatment of COPD, the company said. According to the announcement, AER-01 is a thiol-saccharide designed to dissolve mucus plugs and was developed at UCSF in partnership with researchers at University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin. The company said that it expects to initiate a Phase 1 trial of AER-01 within a few months.
Aer Therapeutics President and CEO Jim Shaffer said, “We are excited to introduce Aer Therapeutics as a company dedicated to delivering a therapeutic solution to patients with COPD who have severe airway obstruction caused by mucus plugs. Our scientific founders led the pioneering research that uncovered mucus plugs as a key mechanism of disease in COPD, and their laboratories worked together to discover AER-01 as a novel mucolytic treatment. Aer will continue to leverage this expertise in the development of AER-01 and other therapeutic candidates for the treatment of muco-obstructive lung diseases.”
Read the Aer Therapeutics press release.
