First Cohort of Participants Dosed in Phase 1 Clinical Trial with Lead Development Candidate AV078 Intended for the Treatment of Seizures Associated with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC)
Leadership Team Strengthened with the Appointment of William Greene, MD, CIO at Hevolution, and Justin Gover, Former CEO at GW Pharmaceuticals to the Board of Directors, and Micah Zajic Appointed as CFO
$50M Financing Led by Hevolution
BERKELEY, Calif., March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Aeovian Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel and highly selective therapeutics that potently inhibit the mTORC1 pathway, today announced that it has dosed the first cohort of participants in a Phase 1 clinical trial for its lead development candidate AV078, a first-in-class CNS penetrant selective mTORC1 inhibitor. Supporting this transition into the clinic, the company has also expanded its leadership team with the appointment of seasoned industry veterans William Greene, M.D., Chief Investment Officer at Hevolution, and Justin Gover, former Chief Executive Officer of GW Pharmaceuticals, to the company’s Board of Directors, and appointed Micah Zajic as Chief Financial Officer. The company also recently completed a $50 million financing, led by Hevolution.
“We are delighted to partner with Aeovian’s management team and current investors, who have proven track records of success in drug discovery, development, and commercialization. Aeovian has assembled a compelling platform for the development of selective mTORC1 inhibitors,” said Dr. Greene, CIO at Hevolution. “By developing novel small molecules to restore cellular metabolic quality control, Aeovian has several opportunities to address major unmet medical needs for indications spanning orphan neurological diseases to highly prevalent diseases of aging.”
In the $50M financing, Hevolution was joined by existing investors Apollo Health Ventures, Sofinnova Investments, venBio, Evotec and b2venture. This financing will support the completion of the Phase 1 clinical trial in healthy volunteers and prepare for the start of a subsequent Phase 2 clinical trial in adult and pediatric patients with TSC refractory epilepsy.
“TSC is a genetic disorder of mTORC1 hyperactivation. We believe that our first-in-class CNS penetrant selective mTORC1 inhibitor, AV078, has the potential to be transformative for patients with TSC refractory epilepsy, a patient population in need of therapeutic options with better efficacy and tolerability. Beyond AV078, we believe that there is vast potential for our library of proprietary compounds in treating mTORC1-mediated rare and age-related diseases,” said Allison Hulme, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Aeovian Pharmaceuticals. “The entire Aeovian team welcomes Hevolution, and is thankful for the continued support and commitment of our existing investors as we move to this next exciting stage of the company’s development.”
