IRISH BIOTECH company Opsona has secured €18 million to fund its continuing development of drugs to address diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and post-coronary care.

The funding is significantly ahead of the €10 million initially sought by the Dublin-based group early last year and represents one of the largest biotech fundraisings across Europe in the past 12 months.

Chief executive Dr Mark Heffernan said the money would fund the company’s requirements over the next three years. He said completion of the fundraising represented a “significant milestone” for the company.

Opsona hopes to start clinical trials on the first of its drugs next year. The firm specialises in developing therapeutic and preventative approaches to auto-immune and inflammatory diseases, targeting toll-like receptors – proteins that activate immune cell responses.

This is the second round of fundraising. Seroba Kernel Sciences and Inventages, which have been involved with Opsona from the outset, have been joined by Fountain Healthcare Partners and Novartis Venture Fund. All specialise in life sciences and both Seroba and Fountain have Irish operations.

Others that have been involved with the company are Enterprise Ireland and Genetech, which provided seed capital back in 2005.

Biotech start-ups are a notoriously high-risk sector. However, with traditional pharmaceutical giants struggling to develop adequate pipelines to replace their existing drugs, there is significant demand for new treatments.

Dr Manus Rogan of Fountain Healthcare Partners says the disease areas Opsona is targeting with its drugs offer a potential market of up to €20 billion in areas currently “underserved” by available therapies.

“Opsona stood out from a long list of deals we have been considering,” he said.