Monarch Biosciences Closes Seed Round Financing

Monarch Biosciences Inc. has completed its seed round financing of more than $1 million led by Checkmate Capital Group of Pasadena, Calif.
 
MonarchBio is an advanced life sciences company that is developing a pipeline of products based on its proprietary thin-film nitinol (TFN) biomaterial.  MonarchBio’s lead product—the Titan Flow Diverter—offers potentially superior and more rapid occlusion of cerebral aneurysms compared with current leading neurovascular products in the market. Approximately 30,000 cerebral aneurysms rupture annually in the United States, and the market for flow diverting stents is approximately $300 million annually. The second product in its pipeline, the Engineered Lymph Node (ELN), is a TFN-based device for local delivery of cell therapies treating solid tumors.
 
The seed funding, which supplemented several million dollars of NIH funding, has been pivotal for the development of MonarchBio’s Titan Flow Diverter. In preparation for first-in-human trials expected later this year, MonarchBio completed preclinical animal and human simulator testing conducted by a team headed by David Kallmes, M.D., Professor of Radiology, at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Rochester, Minn.
 
“We welcome Checkmate Capital’s investment,” said MonarchBio’s CEO, Leon Ekchian, Ph.D. “MonarchBio has enjoyed significant momentum recently based on its Mayo Clinic animal trials as well as its presentation at the MedTech Innovator Conference, a global competition and accelerator for companies focused on medical devices, digital health and diagnostics. We are grateful for this capital infusion and appreciate the collaborative working relationship we have developed with the Checkmate Capital team. We view Checkmate Capital as both a strategic and financial partner going forward as we prepare for our Series A financing.” 
 
Checkmate Capital CEO Tom Paschall will join the MonarchBio Board of Directors. “This investment reflects our confidence in MonarchBio’s success with the applications of its unique and patented TFN biomaterial technology for a wide spectrum of advanced products,” said Paschall. “MonarchBio’s pipeline of products such as the Titan Flow Diverter and ELN are groundbreaking advances in each area of application.  Checkmate believes that MonarchBio’s Titan Flow Diverter could become the new industry standard for aneurysm treatments based on its superior testing performance observed on-site by our team. Moreover, the ELN technology offers a novel approach to solid tumor therapy, enabling application of unique targeted immunotherapies (including CAR-T cells) to tumors, potentially increasing efficacy and avoiding or reducing adverse side effects associated with systemic treatments.” 
 
The Titan Flow Diverter is a flow diverting stent used for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. The TFD is an advanced medical device that uses an omni-direction thin film mesh to cover a neurovascular support stent. Once in place, the Titan Flow Diverter serves a dual purpose: (1) it restricts blood flow into the aneurysm which in turn causes the aneurysm to stagnate, and (2) it acts as a scaffold for rapid re-endothelization of the vessel wall. In animal studies performed to date at Mayo Clinic, the TFN technology implemented via the Titan Flow Diverter has created a robust occlusion effect not observed with competing devices.