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Pharmaceutical maker Zafgen Inc. has raised a $10.1 million round of funding led by return backers 3rd Rock Ventures and Atlas Venture. The investment closed Feb. 17.
Founded in 2005, Cambridge-based Zafgen is developing a weight-loss drug pipeline that is still in the clinical stages of development.
Chief financial officer Matthias Jaffe said the new funding round should carry the company through early next year, or its next round of clinical trials. At that point, he said the three-person company will likely seek another funding round or a strategic partnership with a larger, more established pharmaceutical company.
With a pending drug trial in the works, Jaffe said the company is eager to put its alternative to bariatric surgery through its next round of Phase 1B testing. “Hopefully we can show that the efficacy [displayed in animal studies] translates to humans,” he said.
Jaffe said Zafgen’s lead obesity-drug candidate aims to reduce patient weights by up to 20 percent within a three-to-nine-month treatment cycle.
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