Milestone Pharmaceuticals Montreal, Canada, Inc., has completed a $68 million Series C round of financing to advance the company’s lead product etripamil, a fast-acting nasal spray used by patients to terminate paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) episodes wherever and whenever they occur.

The round, which brings Milestone’s total funding to more than $100 million, was led by Denmark’s Novo Holdings A/S, and included new investors Forbion Capital Partners and funds managed by Tekla Capital Management, with significant participation from Milestone’s existing investors Domain Associates, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, BDC Capital, Pappas Capital, and GO Capital.

Milestone Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage cardiovascular company founded in 2005 with headquarters in Montreal and a US subsidiary in Charlotte, NC. The funding will be used to advance etripamil into Phase 3 developtwment including the execution of pivotal and supportive clinical trials, the production of clinical and commercial supplies and pre-launch commercialization activities.

“Following our successful Phase 2 study results, we have been actively planning for the progression of etripamil into the next phase of development to further evaluate its potential as the only patient-administered treatment for the acute termination of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia,” said Joseph Oliveto, Milestone’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “With financing in place by such seasoned and well-respected healthcare investors, Milestone is well positioned to advance and optimize this cutting-edge, novel approach for treating PSVT and potentially reduce the associated frequency of expensive emergency room visits and patient burden it causes each year.”

Etripamil is used in the treatment of PSVT episodes, a condition that affects about 1.7 million people and results in over 600,000 healthcare claims in the US alone per year. During a PSVT episode, patients may feel palpitations while heart rate increases dramatically and can exceed 200 beats per minute. Although the condition is not life threatening, it causes great distress to the patient and often results in a visit to a hospital emergency room where the patient is usually administered intravenous drugs and monitored until the symptoms resolve.

Etripamil is a short-acting calcium channel blocker in the form of a nasal spray that patients can self-administer to stop PSVT episodes when they happen. In May 2017, at the Heart Rhythm Society’s 38th Annual Scientific Late Breaker Session, Milestone presented results from its Phase 2 trial (NODE-1) which showed that etripamil demonstrated statistically significant efficacy compared to placebo for the acute termination of PSVT induced in an electrophysiology laboratory.

In conjunction with this financing, joining Milestone’s Board of Directors will be Nilesh Kumar, PhD, of Novo Ventures US Inc., which provides consulting services to Novo Holdings A/S, and Marco Boorsma, PhD, of Forbion Capital Partners. Daniel Omstead of Tekla Capital Management will be an observer to the Board of Directors.

““We are excited to join Milestone in the development of a novel approach for the treatment of PSVT,” said Nilesh Kumar, Partner, Novo Ventures. “There is a significant unmet need in the treatment of this condition and, with strong Phase 2 data, we look forward to seeing etripamil progress in pivotal trials.”

Milestone is actively recruiting clinical sites for a Phase 3 trial of etripamil in the at-home setting enrolling patients with confirmed diagnosis of atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) and atrioventricular re-entry tachycardia (AVRT).