Dublin drug company raises €18 million

Opsona Therapeutics, a drug development company based in Dublin, has completed a Series B round of funding.

The round, in which four venture capitalist funds participated, raised €18 million (£16 million) to support clinical trials targeting inflammatory diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis ‘through the innate immune system’, according to Opsona CEO Dr Mark Hefferman.

As part of the deal, Florent Gros, managing director at early-stage healthcare investor Novartis Venture Fund, and Dr Manus Rogan, managing partner at Dublin-based Fountain Healthcare Partners, will join the board of directors.

The other two firms named as investors in the round are Swiss life sciences investor Inventages Venture Capital and Seroba Kernel Life Sciences, which has offices in Ireland and the UK.

The money will help fund the opening of a new laboratory in Switzerland, as well as recruiting additional executives for the corporate and clinical teams.

Opsona was founded in 2004 by three immunologists from Trinity College Dublin. The company has signed a partnership deal with US pharmaceutical giant Wyeth and expects to begin key clinical trials for its flagship product next year.