Tioga Pharmaceuticals of San Diego has closed its $10 million Series B equity financing led by new investor Thomas, McNerney & Partners, which invested $8 million in the round.

In connection with the financing, Jason Brown, Ph.D., principal at Thomas, McNerney & Partners, has joined Tioga's board of directors.  Existing investor Genesys Capital Partners also participated in the financing.

Tioga is currently conducting a phase III trial of its compound asimadoline for the treatment of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS) under a special protocol assessment with the FDA. The 600-subject randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial is one of two registration trials required for approval in the U.S. Asimadoline has also been granted Fast Track designation by the FDA for the treatment of D-IBS.

"Tioga marks our third new investment in Southern California since we opened our San Diego office last year,” said Brown, “and is a great example of the continuing growth of life sciences in the region. Asimadoline is an attractive, novel, late-stage medicine that has the potential to fulfill the substantial unmet need in D-IBS.  It has demonstrated impressive efficacy in D-IBS patients, and an excellent safety profile in more than 1,100 subjects."  

In September 2009, Ono Pharmaceutical licensed exclusive rights from Tioga to develop and commercialize asimadoline in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Tioga retains all other rights to the compound.