CEO of Appili Therapeutics Inc., Kevin Sullivan (BSc (Microbiology and Immunology)’96) is planning to use the company’s recently closed $2.15 million in funding to eventually produce a drug to fight antibiotic-resistant viruses. In the shorter term, the funding will go toward clinical trials for a low-risk drug that can get to market quickly and bring in revenues to sustain the company going forward.

Funding for the Halifax-based company came from existing and new investors. It was boosted by a close partnership cultivated by Sullivan with Toronto-based Bloom Burton & Co., an investment bank specializing in healthcare.

In early 2016, Appili received FDA approval for its ATI-1501 drug that treats Clostridium difficile infection, or CDI, in children. This drug improves on another in the market, which has a bitter taste that children don’t like. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, CDI is an urgent threat to antibiotic resistance.

Appili will continue working on its antibiotic, ATI-1503, to treat deadly infections such as Klebsiella pneumonia.

Read more in “ENTREVESTOR: Appili gets $2.15M in funding to develop superbug fighter” on thechronicleherald.ca.

Image: The Chronicle Herald