Fibrotech gets A$3M for promising new fibrosis drug

University of Melbourne, Australia, spin-out Fibrotech Therapeutics has received investment funding from Brandon Capital Partners, MRCF and  Uniseed to develop fibrosis drugs. Fibrotech has secured A$3.0-million  ($1.9 million) investment funding to advance development of its lead  fibrosis drug, FT011, to completion of Phase Ib clinical trials.

The company is developing novel drug candidates to treat the fibrosis  prevalent in chronic conditions such as kidney disease, heart failure,  pulmonary fibrosis and arthritis. Fibrotech's proprietary compounds are  novel analogues of tranilast (Rizaben), a known anti-fibrotic agent  wthat is off patent.

FT011 has been shown to be orally-bioavailable and significantly inhibit  the progression of renal fibrosis in a rat model of diabetic  nephropathy. The initial indication being pursued by Fibrotech is  late-stage diabetic nephropathy, the clinical outcome being delayed  progression to end-stage renal disease.