RTP biotech startup APIE Therapeutics raises $100K, seeks $4.9M more

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK –A newly established high-powered RTP company, APIE Therapeutics, has raised $100,000 in debt, according to a recent securities filing.

One investor contributed to the round, which kicked off Sept. 9. The company is seeking an additional $4.9 million, the filing noted.

According to its website, APIE’s mission is to develop and commercialize novel Apelin Receptor biased agonist drug therapies.

The Apelin/APJ receptor is widely expressed in the endothelial of various organs and central to the pathophysiology of fibrosis, an underlying hallmark of many serious diseases.

Drugs targeting the Apelin Receptor have been proposed for the treatment of pulmonary, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

APIE recently signed a licensing agreement with RTI International to develop a class of RTI-developed compounds targeting heart failure and lung disease.

Under the agreement, APIE obtained exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and sell RTI’s apelin receptor agonist therapeutic candidates to treat the rare lung disease known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The new partners did not disclose terms of the agreement.

It’s a lot of abbreviations. But APIE CEO Esther Alegria, Ph.D., has no problem wading through them. She credits the collaborative and ever-expanding network of biopharma companies and scientific institutions in North Carolina’s Research Triangle area for making the agreement possible.

Original Article Source: WRAL TechWire