The Series A financing will be used to develop PH46A, as a potential first-in-class oral small molecule drug for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as well as in both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD).
Additionally, the funding will support clinical studies in healthy volunteers and patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis and expedite development with international development partners and major clinical centers.
Trino source professor Neil Frankish said the investment will help in expanding the Trino team and develop its clinical partnerships so that it can investigate the effectiveness of its research where it is needed – in patients with inflammatory diseases and ineffective drugs.
The company had initially received nearly €2.2m to complete GMP manufacture and pre-clinical testing, while €7m is set to be invested to bring the drug through formal First In Man testing in healthy volunteers.
First In Man testing will help to identify the international clinical investigator network for patient studies and to complete initial Phase II testing of PH46A in mild to moderate ulcerative colitis.
Enterprise Ireland and Growcorp are the other investors in Trino.