Venture Capital

Kythera Bags $40M in Series C

The California based, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals announced a $40M C round financing led by JAFCO. The money is structured such that Kythera has an immediate influx of $30M, with the additional $10M available mid-09. Other new investors include BBT Capital Management/Apothecary Capital and PFM.

“This financing is a clear recognition of the progress made on and potential of our lead product candidate, ATX-101, which is currently being evaluated in Phase II clinical trials in Europe, Canada, Australia and the U.S. for minimally-invasive reduction of localized fat,” said Leonard.

ATX-101 is an injectable formulation of sodium deoxycholate (i.e.; soap) for the potential treatment of lipomas; the most common subcutaneous soft-tissue tumors with an estimated annual incidence of 1 per 1,000 persons. The benign tumors are usually left untreated unless the patient feels pain, discomfort or the physician suspects it’s pushing on something important.

Super interesting, right? This is exactly the type of idea I stay awake trying to think of. So simple, yet so effective. Seriously, my hat is off to these guys.

(photo of a spindle cell lipoma from euthman on flickr under a creative commons license)

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