Changing the Face of Inflammatory Diseases: Noa Therapeutics Secures Pre-Seed Financing to Transform the Treatment of Complex Immune Diseases

Accelerating development of its lead product in Atopic Dermatitis treatment toward Phase 1

Maura Campbell and François Ravenelle to Join Board of Directors

Toronto, ON – March 6, 2024. One in ten North Americans struggle with eczema, a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by dry, red, and itchy skin that can crack and bleed. Eczema affects people of all ages and ethnicities, with a higher prevalence in women and children.

Due to the complexity of eczema, patients cycle through ineffective treatments, endure side effects and infection complications, and contend with financial burdens.  Without a cure, frustrated patients struggle to find long term relief.

Disrupting this treatment paradigm is Noa Therapeutics, a preclinical stage biotech company with a portfolio of novel trimodal therapeutics to address inflammatory barrier diseases like eczema, announced that they have secured an oversubscribed pre-seed financing round.

Led by UCeed, the financing round is inclusive of 58% of investment diligence led by women and 27% of direct dilutive investment by women. The round also includes participation by Ontario Centre of Innovation Life Science Innovation Fund, Archangel Network’s StarForge and Phoenix Fire funds, North Spring Capital Partners, and Angel Investors from the Golden Triangle Angel Network and Angel One Investor Network.

“Through initiatives like the Life Sciences Innovation Fund, Ontario is supporting local companies to develop innovative health care solutions across the province,” said Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “We congratulate Noa Therapeutics on their recent success and look forward to their contributions to Ontario’s world-class life sciences sector.”

Concurrently, Noa Therapeutics announced its new board of directors including Dr. Maura Campbell, President & CEO of OBIO ® and Dr. François Ravenelle, President & CEO of Inversago Pharma.

“We are proud to be led by 100% women and 50% people of color and are incredibly appreciative of the support we’ve received from investors and ecosystem partners inclusive of OBIO®, Elevate Women+ in partnership with the Firehood, Creative Destruction Lab, Life Sciences Ontario, MaRS, and Innovation Factory” said Noa Therapeutics’ co-founders Carla Spina PhD and Serena Mandla P.Eng., MASc.  “Our new board and oversubscribed round are significant indicators of our progress towards breaking the cycle of treatment failures to deliver meaningful therapeutics to underrepresented and underserved patients.”

The financing will fund preclinical advancement of a lead drug candidate for atopic dermatitis, a form of eczema, and hit-to-lead for secondary inflammatory diseases involving barrier dysfunction, including ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease.

“By supporting innovative ventures like Noa Therapeutics who are pioneering inclusive and transformative treatments for complex immune diseases, OCI reaffirms its commitment to driving progress and fostering a diverse, resilient ecosystem of healthcare innovation in Ontario. Together, we can address the urgent needs of patients and propel the province towards a healthier, more inclusive future,” added Claudia Krywiak, President and CEO of the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI).

Noa Therapeutics Team, left to right; Katrina Vizely MASc, Preclinical Strategist; Serena Mandla P.Eng. MASC, CSO & Co-Founder; Carla Spina PhD., CEO & Co-Founder; Talia Fiani BSc, Research Scientist.

About Noa Therapeutics

Noa Therapeutics is a resident company of Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS, the largest global network of open innovation ecosystems, enabling and empowering emerging companies with the knowledge, experience, partnerships, and venture connections across a broad healthcare spectrum including pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors. Founded in Q3 2022, Noa Therapeutics is a preclinical biotechnology company passionately committed to transforming the treatments of complex immune diseases. Noa Therapeutics is developing novel trimodal small molecules to address the complexity of inflammatory barrier diseases by simultaneously targeting three key disease drivers to reduce the cycle of treatment failures to address unmet needs in over $100B of inflammatory disease markets.

For more information: www.noatherapeutics.com

About UCeed

UCeed is Canada’s largest university-based investment fund. A group of early-stage investment funds, UCeed backed by philanthropic support, accelerating early-stage startup companies to advance problem-solving research, create jobs and fuel the economy.

For more information: https://www.ucalgary.ca/uceed/uceed

About the Ontario Centre of Innovation:

The Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) brings industry, academic, and government partners together to invest in collaborative R&D, technology development, and commercialization opportunities that generate the highest return on innovation for Ontarians. As an ecosystem connector, OCI initiates unparalleled partnership opportunities, develops and manages successful industry-academic collaborations, supports high-potential SMEs in commercializing ground-breaking research, and provides hands-on training and skills development opportunities for the next generation of highly skilled talent. OCI drives economic growth and job creation through investments in the development, commercialization, and adoption of advanced technologies.

For more information: https://www.oc-innovation.ca

About Archangel Network of Funds

Phoenix Fire: Phoenix Fire is an angel stage investment fund that applies a systematic, disciplined approach to investing in women entrepreneurs across Canada.

StarForge: The StarForge fund is an actively managed portfolio that invests in innovative, early-stage B2B Canadian companies with disruptive technologies, significant scale-up potential, and valuation advantages over the U.S. market.

For more information: https://www.archangelnetwork.ca/

About the Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN):

GTAN is a community of angels, super angels, funds, and founders investing in pre-seed to Series A technology companies. In the past three years we invested into nearly 100 startups with $50k to $1M per round across a broad array of industries – including hardware AI, hardware, robotics, health tech, and software. If you are raising or want to invest, come join us..

For more information: https://www.goldentriangleangelnet.ca

About OBIO®

Founded in 2009, OBIO® is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization engaged in strategy, programming, policy development and advocacy to further the commercialization of human health technologies that position Canada as a leader in the international marketplace. OBIO® advances this goal through collaborative partnerships with industry, the investment community, academia, the healthcare system and government. For more information, please visit obio.ca and follow OBIO® on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Angel One Investor Network

Angel One Investor Network is a distinguished non-profit angel investing network that connects experienced investors with promising startups in Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, and the Niagara Escarpment. The network acts as an important channel for funding, expertise, and mentorship, helping early-stage companies grow and make a significant impact. Angel One members work together to support innovation and entrepreneurship, sharing their knowledge and experience to support the success of new ventures. By focusing on strategic investments, Angel One helps drive economic growth and technological advancement in key regions of Ontario, making it a crucial part of Canada’s innovation economy.

About Innovation Factory

Innovation Factory is a not-for-profit business accelerator, serving as the catalyst for technology innovation in the greater Hamilton area since 2010. Innovation Factory provides business services, training, mentorship, and strategic connections to drive market adoption, leverage intellectual property, and increase revenues, investment, and jobs. Innovators can also access sector-specific resources including exclusive smart transportation test environments and data; and a formal life science and health innovation ecosystem. 

For more information: www.innovationfactory.ca

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