- Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Tarsus Pharmaceuticals announced it raised $60 million in Series B funding led by Vivo Capital
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals — a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company — announced that it raised $60 million in Series B financing. This round of funding was led by Vivo Capital and included Frazier Healthcare Partners, Flying L Partners, Visionary Ventures, Aperture Venture Partners, and Horowitz Group.
And Tarsus will be using the funding to initiate a Phase 2b/3 trial in the U.S. of their lead product TP-03 for Demodex blepharitis and fuel Phase 1 and 2 development of other clinical programs.
“We are grateful for support from a leading syndicate of healthcare investors. This financing will allow Tarsus to grow, conduct a first registration study in Demodex blepharitis, and broaden our mission to deliver innovative therapies in eye care and beyond by advancing our clinical pipeline in 2020,” explained Tarsus CEO Bobby Azamian, MD, PhD.
There are an estimated 20 million Americans who suffer from blepharitis and approximately 45% of them have clinical signs of Demodex. And TP-03 is a topical ophthalmic that targets an underlying cause of blepharitis and has the potential to be the first-ever drug treatment for this condition. Plus the company’s product pipeline includes additional indications in eye care and other areas of high unmet clinical need.
“We’re excited to support this innovative company that is developing the first drug for Demodex blepharitis and building a pipeline of products to address other large market opportunities,” said Chen Yu, MD, MBA, Managing Partner at Vivo Capital.
Launched in 2017, Tarsus brings innovative therapies to a range of diseases in need of better solutions, starting with Demodex blepharitis and eye care. The company is a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based out of Irvine, California.
“We founded Tarsus with the mission of bringing to market the first drug for Demodex blepharitis, an important unmet need and one of the largest diseases in anterior segment medicine,” added Tarsus Chairman Michael Ackermann, PhD.
