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Cyrano Therapeutics raises $9M Series B round to combat loss of smell

Nancy Dahlberg
Nancy Dahlberg
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 Cyrano Therapeutics, a Delray Beach-based regenerative medicine company pioneering the development of treatments for smell loss, has raised $9 million in Series B financing to advance the development of what could be the first treatment for post-viral smell loss.  

The financing was led by the Florida Opportunity Fund,  which invests in early growth stage companies in the state, and Orlando-based DeepWork Capital, the venture firm that manages the Florida Opportunity Fund, and existing investors Lumira Ventures and Remiges Ventures. In total, Cyrano has raised nearly $22 million, according to Crunchbase.

Founded in 2014, Cyrano is developing CYR-064, a therapeutic that targets post-vital smell loss, or hyposmia. The spray therapy aims to treat patients who have lost their sense of smell following recovery from a viral infection.

Cyrano plans to  use the funding to advance its Phase 2, double-blind, randomized clinical trial of CYR-064 that will be conducted at up to 15 sites in the US.

“This Series B financing enables us to advance what we believe to be a first-of-its-kind treatment for patients suffering from long-term smell loss due to a viral infection. Smell loss correlates to functional loss of taste, which can both diminish quality of life and present significant health and safety risks, thus underscoring the urgency in advancing this important therapeutic,” said Rick Geoffrion, President and CEO of Cyrano Therapeutics, in a statement.

According to Cyrano, the number of patients experiencing long-term smell and flavor loss has increased 10-fold in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to over 40 million patients in the US and Europe, causing a significant impairment in quality of life. What’s more, people suffering smell loss could have the inability to detect spoiled foods, or worse, hazardous fumes. In older individuals, hyposmia is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment and mortality, the company said in its announcement.

“We also plan to conduct exploratory research for patients with Parkinson’s disease, 95 percent of whom often experience loss of smell and flavor as the first symptom of the disease,” Geoffrion added. There is currently no FDA-approved drug therapy to treat smell loss from any cause.

South Florida is home to a growing, thriving medtech community. Investors have taken notice, as healthtech and life sciences companies in the tri-county area attract the second largest amount of venture capital here, behind fintech.     

“Cyrano Therapeutics represents an important investment for DeepWork and the Florida Opportunity Fund as we seek to identify and cultivate emerging biotechnology companies in Florida that combine executive and scientific expertise with thrapeutic opportunities that offer the potential to address significant, unmet medical needs,” said Dr. Jackson Streeter, a DeepWork Capital venture partner.

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