News
Delphian Therapeutics Closes $2.7M Seed Round to Begin Phase 1 Trials
May 1, 2024
Delphian Therapeutics has secured $2.7M in seed funding to advance its lead candidate, S1-220, an optimized combination of CBD:THC to treat migraine with and without aura, into phase 1 clinical trials in early 2025.
Despite the introduction of new classes of therapeutics in recent years, migraine remains one of the world's largest, most poorly managed diseases, afflicting over 1B people worldwide.
The round was led by an angel group of primarily Accenture alumni focused on early-stage deep tech and life science. As part of the investment, Michael Rainey, former Global Head of Life Science at Accenture, has joined Delphian Therapeutics' Board of Directors. The Round also included the Minato Investment Group, Japan-based angels focused on healthcare and life science.
Funded in part by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and by the Migraine Research Foundation, Delphian Therapeutics' scientific program is led by Dr. Greg Dussor, Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas, and is partnered with migraine research labs at the University of Iowa and Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Dr. Alan Rapoport, past President of the International Headache Society, leads Delphian Therapeutics' clinical team of renowned leaders in developing both migraine and cannabinoid therapeutics into S1-220's first in human trials, targeting early 2025.
LifeSci Consulting, a top-tier global pharmaceutical transaction and strategy firm, conducted an in-depth analysis of the opportunity for S1-220, and indicated potential peak sales to be well over $3B. This is consistent with values placed on other migraine therapeutics classes in recent transactions. Lundbeck acquired a CGRP asset for ~$2B after completing phase 3 trials, and Eli Lilly acquired a 5-HT target for ~$960M after phase 2 trials. LifeSci's analysis indicated that cannabinoids, in which Delphian Therapeutics leads, represent one of the more compelling novel mechanisms of action for the indication which has a tremendous unmet medical need.