Kidney disease drug developer Sorbent Therapeutics raises $21M

Sorbent Therapeutics Inc. has raised a $21 million Series B round to fund Phase 2 […]

Sorbent Therapeutics Inc. has raised a $21 million Series B round to fund Phase 2 clinical trials of a non-absorbed polymer-based drug for end-stage renal disease.

The company’s renal disease drug, called CLP 1001, isn’t absorbed into the bloodstream and works by absorbing sodium and fluid from a patient’s gastrointestinal tract, said CFO and co-founder William Rajski.

Patients with end-stage renal disease — the near-total failure of the kidneys — need to undergo dialysis to remove toxins from their blood. However, in between dialysis sessions, fluid often builds up in their bodies causing weight gain and Sorbent’s drug aims to alleviate that buildup, Rajski said.

“There’s no drug that removes clinically significant amounts of sodium and fluid on the market,” he said.

The trial is expected to wrap up early next year. Sorbent hopes to prove that the drug removes sodium from patients’ bodies and reduces their blood pressure, Rajski said.

In addition to the trial, Sorbent will use the funding to investigate a new means of delivering the drug. It currently comes in capsule form, but the company hopes to make it available as a gel or suspension, or even in a form similar to a chocolate bar, Rajski said.

The $21 million fundraise is comprised of $14 million in “new” equity, with the remainder a loan that was converted to equity by an existing investor — a sign of investor confidence in Sorbent’s clinical trial plans, according to Rajski.

The funding was sourced from 10 investors with the first sale occurring on June 30, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sorbent’s prior investors include ARCH Venture Partners, Sofinnova Ventures, CMEA Capital and Dow Chemical Co. Chicago-based ARCH led a $14.3 million Series A round to Sorbent in 2006.

The Series B comes from existing investors, plus a new one, Montreal-based AgeChem Financial Inc.

Other drugs in the company’s pipeline are aimed at chronic kidney disease, hypertension and congestive heart failure.

The company’s co-founder and CEO, Donald Joseph, is a former executive with Illinois-based pharmaceuticals giant Baxter International Inc.

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