N30 raises $30 million for cystic fibrosis drug development

BOULDER – N30 Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Wednesday that the company closed recently on a $30 million funding round that it expects will be its last before an initial public offering.

The money will be used to further the development of therapies that Boulder-based N30 is working on for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, specifically the clinical trial program for N91115, a novel inhibitor of the enzyme S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR).

The cash will help N30 fund Phase 2 clinical proof of concept trials, which N30 executive vice president Jan Troha said will likely last through 2015 and part of 2016. An IPO, she said, would then help fund Phase 3 trials and eventual commercialization.

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“We’re expecting to have the IPO within the next 12 months depending on progress we make and market conditions,” Troha said.

Investors in the latest funding round included Wellington Management, RA Capital Management, Jennison Associates, Rock Springs Capital Management, Sabby Management and Deerfield Management Co.

N30, which is pre-revenue, has now raised about $115 million in funding since its founding in 2007. The company, based at 3122 Sterling Circle, employs 18 people, with a few likely to be added over the coming year.

Troha said the therapy N30 is developing is one that could be used in combination with others in the treatment of cystic fibrosis, a complex genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system in some 30,000 people in the United States and 70,000 worldwide.

“We are proud to be backed by this impressive group of new and existing investors, and to advance the clinical trial program for N30 Pharma’s lead compound, N91115, in the treatment of cystic fibrosis,” Howard Furst, chairman of N30’s board of directors and a partner at Deerfield, said in a statement. “N91115 is the first oral GSNOR inhibitor to enter clinical development, representing an important step toward identifying treatments to address a disease with significant unmet need.”