Aerpio Therapeutics, a developer of drugs to combat vascular diseases, has raised $22m in a round featuring pharmaceutical company Novartis.

US-based biopharmaceutical company Aerpio Therapeutics has raised $22m in a round led by investment firm OrbiMed Advisors that also featured healthcare company Novartis.

Novartis participated in the round alongside other existing investors Satter Investment Management, Kearny Venture Partners, Venture Investors, Triathlon Medical Ventures and Athenian Venture Partners.

Aerpio develops therapies for vascular diseases and will use the funds partly to advance its lead candidate, AKB‐9778, a small molecule that inhibits a protein which can help to cause vascular destabilisation. AKB‐9778…