Aerami Therapeutics

About Aerami Therapeutics

Aerami Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for severe respiratory and chronic diseases. Founded in 2010 by Dr. John Patton, who serves as a Director and Chief Scientific Officer, the company leverages his extensive experience in developing inhaled insulin. Originally established as Dance Biopharm, the company rebranded in 2019 to Aerami Therapeutics, shifting its headquarters to Durham, North Carolina, to better reflect a broader strategic focus beyond diabetes to other chronic conditions. This transition was spearheaded by Anne Whitaker, a seasoned healthcare executive who joined as CEO in 2018 and has been instrumental in reshaping the company from a research firm to a clinical-phase entity.

The company's business model centers on its proprietary inhalation technology, which uses a smart, gentle mist inhaler to deliver biologic therapies through the lungs, offering a patient-friendly alternative to injections. Aerami's product development strategy involves combining novel formulations of existing drugs with its inhalation devices to address high unmet medical needs. The company operates in the biopharmaceutical and drug delivery industries, targeting large markets with significant unmet needs. Revenue generation is anticipated through the commercialization of its pipeline products and strategic partnerships. The company has successfully raised significant capital, with funding rounds totaling over $127 million from investors including Molex and SRG.

Aerami's lead product candidate is AER-901, an inhaled, nebulized formulation of imatinib for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This drug-device combination is designed to improve drug uptake and deliver consistent, therapeutic levels of the drug with once-a-day inhalation. Beyond PAH, the company's pipeline has included programs for Type 1 and 2 Diabetes, hypoparathyroidism, and human growth hormone deficiency. A key piece of its technology is the AFINA™ inhaler platform, a handheld, electronic, connected, vibrating-mesh nebulizer, for which the company has pursued 510(k) clearance to capitalize on the growing smart inhaler market. In late 2021, Aerami announced a definitive agreement to merge with a special purpose acquisition company, FoxWayne Enterprises Acquisition Corp., to become a publicly-listed company on Nasdaq, a move intended to fund the advancement of AER-901 into late-stage clinical trials.