On January 13, TechnoDerma Medicines Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "TechnoDerma"), incubated and invested by Viva BioInnovator, is an innovation-oriented R&D biotech company focusing on the development of novel small molecule drugs for dermatological diseases. Recently TechnoDerma announced that they have completed the Series A+ funding of tens of millions of RMB. Thanks to the capital market's high recognition of TechnoDerma's Androgenetic Alopecia (AGA) and Atopic Dermatitis (AD) clinical assets, the company has received the support from the Chengdu Biological City No.1 Equity Investment Fund Partnership (L.P.) and Chengdu Hi Tech Investment Developmentin this round of financing.
“The company is constantly seeking for development and novel opportunity, even during the most difficult times.” Dr. Zengquan Wang, the founder and CEO of TechnoDerma said. Based on this concept, TechnoDerma maintained efficient and steady progress on research and development and introducing new investors, even under the background of COVID pandemic and slowdown of global economy.
TDM-105795, a blockbuster small-molecule topical drug for the treatment of AGA, successfully completed the Phase I clinical trial at the end of December 2022, and is expected to start the Phase II clinical trial in mid-March 2023. In addition, TDM-180935, a topical drug for AD, successfully obtained FDA approval for the Phase I clinical trials in August 2022. Currently, the project has officially entered Phase I clinical trials in the United States (Gov. Trial Identifier: NCT05525468).
TDM-105795 is a first-in-class small-molecule thyroid hormone receptor agonist for AGA developed by TechnoDerma. The Phase I clinical trial is divided into two clinical phases: Ia (Gov. Trial Identifier: NCT05244980) and Ib (Gov. Trial Identifier: NCT05244980). The Phase I clinical trial was successfully completed in the US at the end of December 2022, which has met all clinical endpoints. The results of the Phase I trial met expectations for the drug's safety and drug dose exploration and showed that TDM-105795 applied externally in each drug dosage group did not cause skin irritation, systemic adverse events including cardiac side effects, did not affect the level of thyroid hormone in the body, and TDM-105795 was almost undetectable in plasma. TDM-105795 is very safe for external use. This has laid a good foundation for the upcoming phase II clinical trial on efficacy.
Besides new drugs entering clinical trials, TechnoDerma's research pipeline also includes TDM-004, a topical drug for psoriasis, which is undergoing preclinical safety evaluation tests, and the oral drug TDM-003 for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which is already in the CMC stage. Also, TechnoDerma and the Department of Dermatology at the University of Michigan are conducting a drug discovery phase study targeting skin scarring and are currently optimizing lead compounds.
According to public information, TechnoDerma completed the A-round financing of tens of millions of RMB in 2021 led by CDH Fund, followed by Oceanpine Capital and Linden Asset Group. TechnoDerma aims to become a world-leading therapeutic company in the field of skin diseases through independent research and development of first-in-class drugs.
Facing the pressure of capital market in 2022, TechnoDerma still made steady progress in the company development; the collaboration with Chengdu High-tech Zone and introduction of new funds laid a strong foundation for the company's product industrialization and commercialization in the next five years. The company's series A+ financing has received strong support from the government of Chengdu High-tech Zone and related industry funds.
According to Dr. Wang, in the future, TechnoDerma will continue developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of AGA, AD, psoriasis, SLE, scar and other skin diseases. After the AGA and AD projects have entered the Phase I clinical trial, the company will further promote its external medicine for the treatment of psoriasis to enter the Phase 1 study in 2023. "The company will seek cooperation with excellent industrial partners in an open and active cooperation mode to promote the company’s clinical development, industrialization and commercialization.”
About TechonoDerma
TechonoDerma is an innovation-oriented R&D biotech focusing on the development of novel small molecule drugs for dermatological conditions. The company's current R&D pipeline includes candidate drugs for androgenetic alopecia (AGA), atopic dermatitis (AD), psoriasis, and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). TechnoDerma's first and the most advanced research and development program is the first-in-class small molecule drug candidate TDM-105795 for the treatment of AGA, which finished Phase I clinical trial by end of 2022 and begin Phase II trial in early 2023. The IND application for the second program, which involves a topical drug, TDM-180935, for the treatment of AD, has been approved by FDA on Aug 1st, 2022. Several ongoing programs aim at submitting IND applications for the treatment of psoriasis and SLE in Q3-Q4 2023 and 2024, respectively. In addition, TechnoDerma has been conducting innovative research to identify novel targets and small molecules for other skin conditions such as hyper scarring, thereby further strengthening the company’s R&D capacity.
