Complexa Inc., a company spun out of the Universty of Pittsburg, is planning for human trials of a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs to treat diabetes, kidney failure and other diseases. The company will be well placed to attract new capital following a report by Ernst & Young that has found that Pittsburgh technology companies continue to outpace national averages in the amount of venture dollars invested in regional companies.
The company’s research has been spurred from Dr. Bruce Freeman’s extensive experience in the biochemistry and pharmacology of nitric oxide signalling and oxidative inflammatory reactions. Freeman, who serves as Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh, pioneered the discovery of potent inflammatory and cell signalling mediators. His lab also discovered modified fatty acid products that manifest novel anti-inflammatory and metabolic signalling actions and form the basis for Complexa’s technology platform and lead compounds.
For diabetes, for example, the researchers are developing the drugs that work to normalise blood glucose levels by turning on the anti-inflammatory pathways in the body, and turning off inflammatory pathways.
The start-up has raised just over $8m over the past two years in an effort to fund the licensing and development of molecules discovered and patented by Freeman and his team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh.
According to the company’s CEO Joshua Tarnoff, the company has much to thank the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and Innovation Works, which provided seed money to Complexa. The seed money and other funds raised from venture capital investors have helped the company’s anti-inflammatory drugs progress from animal to human trials.
The Accelerator Fund, which is the first fund sponsored and managed by the professionals of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG), invested in the business as well. The $8.1m Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG) Accelerator Fund I provides life sciences companies with venture capital financing within western Pennsylvania.
The company has also raised $3.18m in debt facilities.
An improved economic climate for venture funding and a growing number of successful sales of companies in the Pittsburgh region is a sign of strength for investment activity in the region, according to an Ernst & Young report on the region’s impact on start-up and venturing funding activity.
Pittsburgh ranked third in venture transactions among regions that are active technology hubs with 52.5 deals per 1 million residents, behind only Boston and Austin.
According to the second annual review by Ernst & Young and Innovation Works on regional investment activity, Pittsburgh technology companies continue to outpace national averages in the amount of venture dollars invested in regional companies. In addition, the diversity of industries raising capital, an improving climate for regional venture funds, and the growing number of successful company exits spell continuing strength for the region’s technology companies.
In 2013, Pittsburgh attracted over $338m in venture, angel, strategic partnership and other sources of capital to finance 148 deals. Between 2009 and 2013, 34 exits occurred among Pittsburgh technology companies. These exits are valued at more than $3bn.
