Ocelot chasing hepatorenal disease with $36M round, candidate from Ferring

Newly launched Ocelot’s $36 million series A round will support development of a Phase II-ready asset for a complication of acute kidney injury associated with hepatorenal syndrome, a condition for which little progress has been made in recent decades.

Geoff Harris, the founding CEO of Ocelot Bio Inc., and a team at Ferring Pharmaceuticals A/S had identified a vasopressin peptide therapeutic that was tested in healthy volunteers with an eye toward development for complications of end-stage liver disease. After the compound was de-prioritized by the Swiss pharma, the group negotiated for it to be spun out, Ocelot’s incoming President and CEO Katherine Vega Stultz told BioCentury...