Biolytx Pharmaceuticals picks up $1.1 mill
By Iris Dorbian
© 2015 Buyouts Insider / Argosy Group LLC
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — A $500,000 investment from the i2E, Inc.-managed Oklahoma Seed Capital Fund recently led a $1.1 million financing round in Oklahoma City-based Biolytx Pharmaceuticals Corp.
Biolytx is developing a promising drug designed to promote wound healing and kill antibiotic resistant bacteria.
This latest financing round also included $200,000 from the i2E-managed SeedStep Angels group, as well as $250,000 from an Oklahoma venture capital fund and $150,000 in committed investment by Biolytx management.
The company’s antimicrobial peptide program was developed by H. Anne Pereira, Ph.D.,
Dean of the Graduate College & Professor and Associate Dean of Research for the College of Pharmacy at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and licensed by OU to Biolytx.
Biolytx plans to use the new investment dollars to further pre-clinical studies of its initial peptide for corneal wound healing, said William A. Hagstrom, co-founder and board member.
Successful completion of those studies will enable Biolytx to move toward preparation and filing of an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“We are excited to be taking this important step to move our peptide drug candidates from the discovery phase to clinical development, where we hope to address tremendous unmet needs in a range of wound healing and antibiotic resistance indications,” Hagstrom said.
The SeedStep Angels group was founded by i2E in 2009 and is now the state’s largest angel investment group with more than 50 members and chapters in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Ardmore and Muskogee.
The Oklahoma Seed Capital Fund is a state-appropriated investment fund through the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.
About Biolytx Pharmaceuticals
Founded in 2005 by H. Anne Pereira, Ph.D., and William A. Hagstrom, Biolytx is a pharmaceutical technology company developing a novel antibiotic peptide for potential use in wound healing and treatment of serious hospital-acquired infections, including those resistant to current antibiotics. The technology was developed in the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center laboratory of Dr. Pereira and licensed from OU. Pereira’s research showed that a peptide from the CAP37 protein has the ability to kill antibiotic resistant bacteria in laboratory studies. For the past decade, Pereira and her Biolytx team have worked to synthesize the peptide in quantities large enough for use in clinical trials. http://www.biolytxcorp.com
About i2E, Inc.
With offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, OK, i2E’s nationally recognized services include business expertise and funding for Oklahoma’s emerging small businesses. i2E has more than $40 million of investment capital under management. www.i2E.org
