CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Mediar Therapeutics today announced the completion of a seed extension funding round and welcomed Pfizer Ventures and Ono Venture Investment (OVI) as new syndicate members. Mediar, a discovery-stage company developing new treatments for fibrosis, was co-founded by Mass General Brigham Ventures, formerly Partners Innovation Fund. The company is uniquely focused on the myofibroblast, a cell that is a key driver in fibrosis pathology.

“We are impressed by Mediar’s innovative approach to fibrosis and the promise it shows in treating diseases with high unmet medical need,” said Nikola Trbovic, Ph.D., a partner at Pfizer Ventures.

Mass General Brigham Ventures led an initial seed round in 2019 alongside other early venture investors. With Pfizer and OVI’s participation in the syndicate, the company has now raised $20 million in total. The funding will support development of the firm’s unique myofibroblast discovery platform and will advance the company’s development of antibody treatments against a suite of novel targets. Mediar leverages its proprietary insights from these pathological cells to exploit a novel class of targets, fibrotic mediators, that play a central role in fibrotic disease.

“Mediar’s groundbreaking research into fibrotic mediators shows promise in halting and even reversing fibrosis,” said Hiroshi Yamamoto, President and CEO of OVI. “They have discovered an emerging class of novel targets with enormous potential to help patients with chronically damaged organs.”

Meredith Fisher, Ph.D., founding CEO of Mediar and a partner at Mass General Brigham Ventures, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Pfizer Ventures and OVI as new members of our syndicate. Both companies have strong expertise in fibrosis and we look forward to working with their respective investment teams as we advance our exciting therapeutic programs.”

About Mediar Therapeutics

Mediar is a discovery stage biotechnology company developing treatments to halt, or even reverse, fibrosis. Our platform and pipeline are based on an emerging class of novel targets – fibrotic mediators – that play key roles in modulating myofibroblasts. These cells are drivers of pathophysiology in diseases such as liver cirrhosis, which leave organs chronically damaged. Mediar was co-founded by leading fibrosis researchers from Mass General Brigham and Mass General Brigham Ventures in 2019. For more information, contact info@mediartx.com.

About Ono Venture Investment (OVI)

Ono Venture Investment (OVI) is the corporate venture capital arm of Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (ONO), a research-oriented pharmaceutical company that focuses on delivering first-in-class medicines to patients. Based in the San Francisco Bay life science cluster, OVI makes investments in novel startups developing products and platforms with high potential synergy with ONO’s R&D.

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