Thursday, October 9, 2008

Alfama pulls in $14.7M for carbon monoxide-releasing therapy

By Mass High Tech Staff

Alfama Inc. announced it has received a new round of private financing from InovCapital of Portugal, London-based Sussex Research Ltd. and individual investor K. Tucker Andersen. The new round has brought Alfama’s total funding to $14.7 million, the company reported. The biotech has its U.S. headquarters in Cambridge but originated in Portugal. It established its office in Kendall Square after its recent merger with research organization hemoCORM Ltd. of London.

The startup is studying ways to use carbon monoxide releasing compounds (CORMs) as a therapy to treat a range of conditions, including multiple sclerosis and liver failure. The company stated that the financing would be used to expand its operations and ramp up its pre-clinical trials in kidney transplantation and lung disease .

According to Nuno Arantes-Oliveira, CEO of Alfama, the company plans to raise additional financing “in the near future” to speed the development of its programs.

Its founders include the biologists Roberto Motterlini, who coined the term “CORM,” and Werner Haas, former researcher at Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. Two leading chemists in CORM research were also involved in the company at the outset:  Brian Mann, of Sheffield University and Carlos Romão of the Institute for Chemical and Biological Technology of the New University of Lisbon in Portugal.