Ahammune Biosciences secures funds to develop vitiligo drug

Pune-based biotech startup, Ahammune Biosciences has raised an undisclosed amount in a Pre-Series A round led by Ideaspring Capital and Indian Angel Network. Kotak Private Equity, Legacy Assets LLP (Baldota family fund), and Dr Ajith Kamath (ex-Pfizer) have also participated in the round along with existing investors, including Dr Anand Deshpande and Suman Kant Munjal. The company also has Dr Ganesh Natarajan as an existing investor and has been in receipt of funding grant from Government of India’s body, BIRAC. The freshly infused capital will be used for ‘first-in-human’ studies with Ahammune’s new drug candidate AB1001 for vitiligo, a debilitating skin depigmentation disorder. The study will comprise Phase-I safety studies in healthy human volunteers and Phase-II efficacy studies in vitiligo patients. The biotech company will also deploy the funds in building the patent portfolio to further the research and development efforts. Ahammune, founded in May 2016, has filed its first Investigational New Drug (IND) Application with the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for approval to conduct human studies with its lead drug candidate for vitiligo.