Biggest Swiss financing round in 2013: CHF 47.1 mn for ground-breaking inner ear therapies

Auris Medical, a company dedicated to the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of inner ear disorders, announced today the completion of a CHF 47.1 million1 Series C financing. Two leading venture capital firms, Sofinnova Ventures (Menlo Park, CA USA) and Sofinnova Partners (Paris, France), participated in the financing.

The funding will enable the Basel based Auris Medical to advance its two clinical projects, AM-101 for the treatment of acute tinnitus and AM-111 for the treatment of acute inner ear hearing loss, through Phase III studies and ultimately to market launch. In connection with the fund raising, Jim Healy, MD, PhD, General Partner at Sofinnova Ventures, and Antoine Papiernik, MBA, Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, joined Auris Medical’s Board of Directors.

"The Series C financing represents an important milestone on our way to bring safe and effective therapies to the many patients suffering world-wide from tinnitus or hearing loss for whom today no proven drug-based treatment options exist”, said Thomas Meyer, Auris Medical’s founder and Managing Director. “Having established proof of concept in Phase IIb studies, we are now ready to move forward with our clinical devel-opment plans. Thanks to this latest financing round our leadership position in the emerging market for inner ear therapeutics will be further strengthened.”

“We are impressed with the significant clinical progress that Auris Medical has made towards developing first-in-class therapeutics for two inner ear disorders,” commented Jim Healy. “We are pleased to bring our expertise and network to back Auris Medical’s team and help them build a successful and global business.” Antoine Papiernik stated: “We are thrilled to support Auris Medical’s development at this important time in its life. The company has developed a unique set of compounds that could ultimately address an important unmet medical need.”