BALTIMORE—AsclepiX Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that is developing drugs to treat diabetic macular edema (DME) and wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), announced that it has raised $5 million in convertible note funding, led by Barer & Son Capital with additional funds from Rapha Capital Management, Salem Partners, TEDCO, and Piedmont Capital Partners. In concert with the funding, AsclepiX expanded its board to add Josh Barer, Kevin Slawin, MD, and Sapna Srivastava, PhD, to the founding members Aleksander Popel, PhD and Jordan J. Green, PhD and CEO Wendy Perrow, MBA.

AsclepiX said the funding will enable it to accelerate development of AXT107, its treatment DME) and wet AMD. These diseases are now treated with drugs that inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), which must be injected in the eye monthly for several months, with dosing adjusted thereafter based on response.

“With an exciting, novel mechanism of action, engineered on a backbone of naturally occurring peptide inhibitors of vascular neogenesis that both inhibit the activity of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and activate Tie2, AsclepiX’s lead therapeutic, AXT107, may be a more efficacious therapy that helps preserve vision for people with DME and wet AMD—with fewer injections,” said AsclepiX CEO Wendy Perrow.

The convertible note financing brings the total funding for AsclepiX to $16 million, including $11 million in non-dilutive funding previously received from the National Eye Institute, National Cancer Institute, TEDCO and others.