Lumira Ventures Announces Investment in Nocion Therapeutics to Revolutionize Chronic Cough Treatment

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2024 / Lumira Ventures is delighted to announce its latest investment in Nocion Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing first and potentially best-in-class, small molecule charged sodium channel blockers (CSCBs), called Nocions. These innovative compounds are designed to selectively silence activated nociceptors for the treatment of serious conditions involving cough, itch, and pain. Proceeds from the financing will be used to evaluate the lead program, Taplucanium Dry Powder for Inhalation, in a Phase 2b study in Chronic Cough patients.

"With a highly differentiated mechanism of action delivered via a targeted approach, we are extremely excited about Taplucanium as a potential new treatment modality for refractory chronic cough patients with very limited options today." Said Lu Han, Ph.D., Partner, Lumira Ventures.

The Series B financing was led by Arkin Bio Capital and Monograph Capital, with participation from additional new investors as well as existing investors. Lumira Ventures is proud to support Nocion Therapeutics alongside this distinguished group of syndicates including a strategic investor with deep domain expertise in inhaled respiratory therapeutic drug development.

Benjamin "Beni" Rovinski, Ph.D., Managing Director at Lumira Ventures added, "With this financing, and together with a broad syndicate of sophisticated investors, we look forward to supporting a strong management team with deep domain expertise in the respiratory field to develop innovative treatments targeting major unmet needs."

In conjunction with the Series B investment, Lu Han, Ph.D., of Lumira Ventures will join Nocion's Board as an observer.

"We are excited to have Lumira join our Series B syndicate. Their participation, along with the rest of the syndicate, closes our Series B raise of $70M" said Rick Batycky, Ph.D., CEO of Nocion Therapeutics. "This robust raise will allow for a comprehensive evaluation of Taplucanium in Chronic Cough patients, and completion of additional activities to advance this program to Phase 3 readiness, as we diligently work to get this potentially transformative treatment to patient in a timely fashion."

For further information, please contact:

Rick Batycky
rick@nociontx.com

About Lumira Ventures:

Founded in 2007, Lumira Ventures is a multi-stage life sciences investment firm with offices in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, and Boston. We partner with mission-driven entrepreneurs building companies that harness rapidly evolving advancements in medicine to develop transformative products for patients while delivering strong financial returns for our investors and meaningful economic value and impact for society. For more information, visit www.lumiraventures.com

About Nocion Therapeutics:

Nocion Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule CSCBs, "nocions," that selectively affect actively firing nociceptors for the treatment of serious conditions involving cough, itch, and pain. The company's mission is to safely alleviate suffering for millions of patients with conditions arising from activated sensory neurons. Working with Harvard's Office of Technology Development, Nocion was founded on an exclusive license to foundational intellectual property from Harvard University and Boston Children's Hospital. For more information, visit: www.nociontx.com.

SOURCE: Lumira Ventures