Dublin startup Inflazome, which was formed in April of this year, has raised €15m to help it develop treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases.

The substantial funding round was co-led by life science VC firms Novartis Venture Funds and Fountain Healthcare Partners.

Inflazome was founded by Prof. Matt Cooper from The University of Queensland and Prof. Luke O’Neill (pictured) from Trinity College Dublin, following a joint collaboration. Dr. Jeremy Skillington, formally of Genentech, is joining the founders in Inflazome as VP of business development.

Inflazome is developing inhibitors of the inflammasome, a compelling biological target that regulates our innate immune response, now associated with a wide variety of diseases. Following the closure of the financing round, Florent Gros (MD of Novartis Venture Fund), and Dr Manus Rogan (co-founder and MD at Fountain Healthcare Partners) joined the board of directors.

Luke O’Neill is one of Ireland’s most successful entrepreneurial scientists, having co-founded another Trinity spinout called Opsona Therapeutics. That drug development company has raised more than €40m to fund trials of drugs to treat and prevent autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

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Inflazome is working on developing orally available drugs to tackle inflammatory diseases by targeting the inflammasome, immune system receptors and sensors that are thought to drive many chronic inflammatory conditions.

Said Inflazome CEO Matt Cooper: “Inflammasome activation is now implicated in many diseases driven by chronic inflammation, from Parkinson’s to asthma. These conditions are often inadequately treated by current therapies. We want to help people with debilitating diseases facing limited or no treatment options.”

Luke O’Neill added: “Animal models and clinical data suggests there is tremendous opportunity to stop the cycle of chronic inflammation in a range of diseases. We believe that targeting the inflammasome has tremendous potential for a wide range of inflammatory diseases where current treatments are inadequate.”

Dr Manus Rogan, co-founder and managing partner at Fountain Healthcare Partners, commented: “Considering the breadth and depth of possible applications, the commercial potential for a successful small molecule inhibitor of this key target is clearly in the billions of dollars range.”

Florent Gros, managing director at Novartis Venture Fund, added: “We have searched extensively for inhibitors of the inflammasome. We are very excited by Inflazome's prospects; the company has outstanding assets, expertise and capabilities.”

Photo: L-R Dr Manus Rogan, Fountain Healthcare Partners; Prof Matt Cooper, Prof Luke O’Neill and Dr Jeremy Skillington, Inflazome (Pic: Nick Bradshaw)