Date: 2012-11-05
Type of information: Grant
Company: Kalvista Pharmaceuticals (UK)
Investors: Biomedical Catalyst Fund (UK)
Amount: £2.4 million (€ 3 million)
Funding type: grant
Planned used: The funding will be used to accelerate the development of an oral plasma kallikrein inhibitor for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME).
Others: KalVista Pharmaceuticals has won a £2.4 million grant from the Technology Strategy Board under the UK Government\'s £180 million Biomedical Catalyst funding initiative for research and development in the life sciences. KalVista will use the new funding to accelerate the development of an oral plasma kallikrein inhibitor for the treatment of diabetic macular edema.
Plasma kallikrein is an enzyme recently shown to be elevated in the vitreous of DME patients and to cause excessive vascular permeability in models of diabetes, suggesting its potential as a novel VEGF-independent target for the treatment of DME.
The Biomedical Catalyst grant will allow KalVista to complete pre-clinical development of oral plasma kallikrein inhibitors identified by the Company and prepare a drug candidate ready for Phase I clinical development. First in human trials are planned for next year.
Therapeutic area: Ophtalmological diseases
