Depression is now one of the most common mental illnesses worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 332 million people currently live with depression. Despite available therapies, about 30 percent of those affected do not respond sufficiently to conventional treatments and are thus considered treatment-resistant. Helping these people is the goal of the cooperation between Medice and HMNC Brain Health.
To achieve this, the Munich biopharma startup is now raising over 44 million euros (50 million dollars). But that’s not all: HMNC is simultaneously entering into a strategic partnership with Medice, which secures the healthcare company exclusive European marketing rights for the active pharmaceutical ingredient Ketabon (KET01) and is intended to accelerate the development of new precision therapies for depression.
While many pharma partnerships are only concluded after successful clinical development, Medice and HMNC are already jointly investing in the late development phases of multiple programs and simultaneously focusing on a precision medicine approach that is intended to shorten the previously common “trial-and-error” treatment of depression. The combination of financing, licensing deal, and joint development of innovative therapy approaches is particularly noteworthy here.
50-million-dollar Series B finances Ketabon and Nelivabon
With capital from the first closing of the Series B financing round, HMNC primarily aims to advance the development of its two lead programs. These include Ketabon (KET01), an orally available extended-release ketamine formulation for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression, as well as Nelivabon (BH-200), a biomarker-based precision therapy for biologically defined forms of depression. Additionally, the financing is intended to enable preparation of both programs for Phase III development and support the expansion of precision psychiatry through genetic companion diagnostics.
According to HMNC Brain Health, Ketabon is intended to combine the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine with reduced dissociative side effects and, in perspective, enable outpatient or home-based application. The therapy is currently still in clinical development and is not approved.
Medice expands mental health strategy
For Medice, the cooperation represents an expansion of its mental health portfolio. The company points out that classical antidepressants often take effect only after several weeks and about 30 percent of those affected do not respond sufficiently to existing therapies.
Both companies together aim to develop genetic responder tests in addition to new medications. These are intended to help physicians in the future to select the individually appropriate therapy more quickly and reduce lengthy treatment attempts.
Dr. med. Katja Pütter-Ammer, managing partner of Medice, explains:
“To reduce lengthy and inefficient treatment attempts and significantly improve therapy outcomes, teams from HMNC and Medice are now working on the clinical development and approval of novel ketamine-based medicines.”
Medice is pursuing a multimodal approach that is intended to combine pharmacological therapies with digital applications and nutritional concepts.
Exclusive European license for KET01
Parallel to the financing round, both companies signed a licensing agreement.
This grants Medice exclusive marketing rights for KET01 in Europe. Furthermore, the agreement provides for success-dependent milestone payments to HMNC as well as tiered license fees in the double-digit percentage range on future revenues from the active pharmaceutical ingredient candidate.
“With Medice, we have a strong strategic partner at our side who shares our vision of advancing innovative therapy approaches and precision medicine for patients with psychiatric diseases,”
says Dr. Maximilian Döbler, CEO of HMNC.
For HMNC, the agreement means strategic access to Medice’s European distribution infrastructure, while Medice is expanding its portfolio with a potentially innovative therapy approach for treatment-resistant depression.
