SiteOne Therapeutics announced today the signing of a new research and development agreement with Amgen combining SiteOne's experienced drug discovery team and portfolio of novel Naᵥ1.7 inhibitors with Amgen's neuroscience capabilities.

SiteOne also announced the formal closing of a $15 million series B round of financing, led by Amgen and joined by founding investors Next Frontier Capital, 2M Companies Inc., Mission Bay Capital, Sears Capital Management, Biobrit LLC, and Z Investments.

'The opioid crisis in the U.S. has created a critical need for safe and effective non-opioid solutions for managing pain,' said Stan Abel, President and Chief Executive Officer of SiteOne Therapeutics. 'This Series B financing and collaboration with Amgen will allow us to accelerate the development of our Naᵥ1.7 therapeutic candidates in multiple potential applications for managing acute and chronic pain without the addiction potential and other significant side-effects of existing therapies.'

'Naᵥ1.7 is a target of great interest for neuropathic pain due to its human genetic validation,' said David Reese, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Amgen. 'We look forward to working with SiteOne to advance their promising compounds toward clinical testing.'

SiteOne was founded with technology licensed from Stanford University. The company has advanced this science with support from its founding investors as well as from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which contributed more than $3 million in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant funding.

Abel also acknowledged the scientific achievements of George Miljanich, an original Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of SiteOne who passed away in 2016. 'Along with my colleagues at SiteOne, we honor the contributions and vision of George Miljanich, who brought more than 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, inventor and scientist. The seasoned leadership that George provided remains an inspiration for us all every day.'

About SiteOne Therapeutics

SiteOne Therapeutics is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana with a research team based in San Francisco, California at the QB3 biotech incubator. Since its inception, SiteOne has been dedicated to developing novel pain therapeutics and diagnostics to safely, effectively and efficiently treat acute and chronic pain without the limitations of existing pain therapies, such as NSAIDs or opioids. The company's therapeutic candidates are highly selective sodium ion channel 1.7 (Naᵥ1.7) inhibitors based on naturally occurring small molecules. Given the critical role Naᵥ1.7 plays in the generation and conduction of pain signals, combined with the urgent need for new, non-opioid pain therapies, SiteOne is focused on advancing its lead products for the treatment of moderate to severe pain.