CAGE Bio Inc., a biotech company based in San Carlos, Calif. and Fort Worth that’s working in therapies for infection, inflammation and immunology, said it closed on a $7.2 million round of Series A financing that was over-subscribed.
“The investment was led by professional and angel investor groups consisting of current and former pharmaceutical executives and physicians,” the company said. CAGE’s lead product is a therapy for papulopustular rosacea, an inflammatory skin disorder.
“The financing will enable CAGE Bio to strengthen the team, launch consumer healthcare products, and advance their lead therapeutic product for papulopustular rosacea to phase 2” of development, CAGE said in a release.
Dr. Alvaro Guillem, a 40-year pharmaceutical industry veteran who co-founded ZS Pharma and Renibus Therapeutics, is an early investor in the company.
"Opportunities with clear value propositions backed by great science and a strong team are rare,” he said. “CAGE Bio's lead compound has multiple applications and the team has put together R&D partnerships that could become quite rewarding."
CAGE Bio's technology was invented by Samir Mitragotri and his team while he was at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mitragotri is now Hiller professor of Bioengineering and Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Harvard University and the Wyss Institute.