8 March 2023 - - European life sciences venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners said that biopharmaceutical company Noema Pharma has raised an oversubscribed CHF 103m (approx. USD 112m) series B financing round.

Sofinnova co-founded and seed financed Noema in 2019 with Dr. George Garibaldi and Luigi Costa.

The company was established to advance clinical stage assets in-licensed from Switzerland's Roche.

Noema is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on central nervous system disorders.

Existing investors Sofinnova Partners, Polaris Partners, Gilde Healthcare and Invus welcomed new investors Forbion and Jeito Capital, as well as UPMC Enterprises and another undisclosed investor.

The proceeds of the series B financing will be used to advance Noema Pharma's clinical-stage assets, including its lead compound basimglurant (NOE-101), an mGluR5 inhibitor that is being evaluated in Phase 2b clinical trials for severe pain in Trigeminal Neuralgia and seizures in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex.

The company is also developing gemlopodect (NOE-105), a PDE10a inhibitor being evaluated in Phase 2b clinical trials for Tourette Syndrome and Childhood Onset Fluency Disorder or Stuttering; and NOE-115, a Phase 2 ready triple reuptake inhibitor for Atypical Depression and Binge Eating Disorder.