Brixton Biosciences, a spin-out from Massachusetts General Brigham and a clinical stage life sciences company developing novel therapies for chronic and acute pain announced that it closed a Series B funding round of $33M. The round was led by Schooner Capital with notable participation by SV Health Investors, Sparta Group, Excelestar Ventures, PV Capital Management, and Catalyst Health Ventures.
The new round of capital will enable the company to immediately pursue two pivotal clinical studies to treat knee pain associated with osteoarthritis as well as knee replacement surgery– and to ultimately expand the applicability of it’s Neural Ice™ platform beyond the knee to multiple indications in pain with a simple, ultra-long acting injectable drug-free nerve block. To help realize this vision, Brixton has appointed Dr. Michael Fishman, a Key Opinion Leader in Pain Management, as Chief Medical Officer and Reggie Groves, an industry veteran with a track record of success at Medtronic, to its Board of Directors.
The current benchmark for treating acute pain involves systemic medications and local anesthetics that are easy to use but offer relief for a short duration of time. In contrast, chronic pain therapies can be long-lasting but are often complicated to administer, resulting in a low patient response rate. Brixton’s leading solution, its novel Neural Ice™ platform, takes an alternative path by targeting nerves directly and potentially providing pain relief for 3-6 months in a simple, targeted, and familiar injectable.
“We are delighted to welcome our new investors, led by Schooner Capital, as well as all of our existing investors, on our journey to bring to market products that disrupt the way we have traditionally come to think of pain treatment,” said Sameer Sabir, Chief Executive Officer of Brixton Biosciences. “As we use the proceeds of this funding to enter into regulatory clinical studies, our goal is to deliver a simple injectable nerve block that lasts for several months, rather than a day or so.”
This round of funding follows a recent announcement that Brixton Biosciences’ novel Coolio™ Therapy (now Neural Ice™) has received the prestigious Breakthrough Device Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company’s therapeutics show promising first-in-man clinical data with the intent to progress toward pivotal regulatory studies for FDA approval.
“Investing behind a proven entrepreneur, strong early clinical results, and profound potential to impact pain management represents a terrific opportunity. We are excited to join a great group of early investors,” said Ted Henderson, Managing Partner at Schooner Capital.
“Brixton’s objective to offer targeted and long-lasting pain control for months at a time with a well-understood mechanism of action has the potential to become the standard of care,” said Dr. Michael Fishman, Chief Medical Officer of Brixton Biosciences and a double board-certified Anesthesiologist and Pain Medicine specialist. “Being able to extend the relief of a nerve block for months as compared to days with traditional numbing medicines will be a significant milestone in the field of regional anesthesia and orthopedics, and will provide patients in need with durable relief.”
Brixton’s new Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Michael A. Fishman, will drive clinical development and manage the expansion strategy beyond the team’s initial indication. He previously served as a Pain Medicine Physician and the Director of Research at the Center for Interventional Pain & Spine. Reggie Groves will sit on Brixton’s Board of Directors, bringing both a global perspective and a diverse skill set through her expertise in driving sustainable results in medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and professional services. She previously played a transformative role at Medtronic, where she curated and launched novel technologies. Currently, she serves on the Board for LuxMed Systems, Fulgent Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLGT), Advanced NanoTherapies, Inc., and Atricure, Inc.
