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Taris Biomedical announced it has received a $15 million Series A round of venture financing to commence early stage trials of its bladder disease drug device.
The Lexington company had been operating in stealth mode for about 10 months before emerging at a technology conference Wednesday.
Taris — the name stands for targeted intravesical system — is led by Christine Bunt, who previously headed commercialization efforts at Cambridge biotech CombinatoRx Inc. and pharmaceutical giant Roche & Co.
The technology, a platform to allow drugs to slowly seep out of semi-permeable tube devices, is based on research performed by MIT scientists Michael Cima and Robert Langer. The drug device can be used for a number of diseases affecting organs difficult to target.
The first device will be used to treat interstitial cystitis, also known as painful bladder syndrome. The device is inserted into the bladder and can release the local anesthetic lidocaine for 14 days. Taris expects to begin early stage trials this year and, if successful, mid-stage trials in 2010.
Bunt said at the conference that she, Cima and Langer waited until now to officially launch the company because they wanted to build their scientific team and participate in discussions with the federal Food and Drug Administration as well as find two independent advisors to sit on the company’s board of directors.
Those directors are Dennis Ausiello, chief of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, and Ernest Mario, Chairman and CEO of Capina Inc and former CEO of Glaxo Plc.
Participating in the round were Flagship Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners and Polaris Venture Partners.
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