Participated · Series B · Aug 2023

Abcuro develops immunotherapies intended to benefit people with debilitating and progressive rare autoimmune diseases by selectively targeting and depleting highly cytotoxic T cells. Its lead program, ulviprubart, is a monoclonal antibody that targets killer cell lectin like receptor G1 (KLRG1) and is currently being evaluated for the treatment of Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM). The company plans to use proceeds from the Series D to support a new potentially registrational clinical study of ulviprubart in patients with less severe IBM. Abcuro is led by CEO Alex Martin and is based in Newton, MA. Financially, it has just completed a $66M Series D financing led by New Leaf Venture Partners with participation from a broad syndicate of life sciences and strategic investors.

Participated · Series C · Jan 2023

Amolyt Pharma (referred to in the article as Alize Pharma) focuses on creating innovative peptide and protein drugs targeting metabolic disorders and oncology indications. Its lead asset, AZP-531, is an eight-amino-acid unacylated ghrelin analog being advanced for Type II diabetes and Prader-Willi syndrome; the company expects to start Phase I trials in healthy volunteers in 2013, followed by Phase Ib/II studies in patients. A second program, ASPAREC, is a PEGylated recombinant L-asparaginase for acute lymphoblastic leukemia that is already in Phase I and partnered with EUSA Pharma. The firm controls five patent families covering 34 patents and applications around UAG, its analogs, and related uses. Founded in 2007, the company pursues a strategy of bringing assets to early clinical proof-of-concept before licensing to larger pharmaceutical partners. Including the current round, Amolyt/Alize has raised a total of €8.3 million from private and institutional backers to fund its R&D milestones and clinical progression.

Participated · Series B · May 2022

Invetx develops protein-based therapeutics for animal health, focusing on fully species-specific monoclonal antibodies for dogs and cats. The company has built an integrated discovery, development and manufacturing platform that generates optimized, half-life extended antibody candidates. It is advancing a broad pipeline across multiple therapeutic areas with several programs in pilot phase and a first product candidate currently in a clinical field study. Invetx plans to advance multiple candidates toward approval and expects product approvals potentially as early as 2025. The company has established collaborations with AbCellera, Twist Bioscience and Wuxi Biologics and a discovery, development and commercialization partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim. Financially, Invetx is well-capitalized following its recent financing and has raised $86 million since 2018 to support continued development and commercialization. Invetx develops protein- and antibody-based therapeutics and a novel discovery platform aimed at veterinary medicine. The company's platform is designed to address a wide range of indications and targets, including challenging targets such as G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Invetx is initially focused on diseases in dogs and cats and plans to apply its platform to other major veterinary species. The company completed a $25.5 million Series A financing in 2020. Invetx expects to begin pilot studies of its first development candidate in 2020. Recent executive hires and scientific advisors were announced to support antibody and veterinary biologics development. Invetx is building a biotechnology platform focused on protein-based therapeutics for animal health, including antibody medicines. The company aims to translate human biopharma technologies to veterinary applications and is developing a pipeline of recombinant protein therapies. Invetx plans to bring its first pet antibody therapeutic into clinical studies in 2020 and to advance substantial preclinical development across its pipeline. The company has established founding collaborations with WuXi Biologics for development and manufacturing and with AbCellera to accelerate antibody discovery. The $15 million Series A financing will support clinical entry of its lead candidate, expansion of the team, and continued preclinical programs. The global animal health market was estimated at $34 billion in 2019 with forecasted annual growth over six percent, which the company cites as driving demand for new therapeutics.

Participated · Series B · Feb 2022

Endeavor BioMedicines is a San Diego–based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing medicines aimed at delivering transformational clinical benefits for patients with life-threatening diseases. Its lead candidate, ENV-101, is an inhibitor of the Hedgehog signaling pathway in development for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) and showed preliminary results in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2a trial. Endeavor says ENV-101 has the potential to improve lung function and reverse fibrotic processes; the company plans to initiate a Phase 2b trial in IPF and a parallel PPF cohort in 2024, with Phase 2a results to be presented at the ATS International Conference. Its second candidate, ENV-501, is a next-generation anti-HER3 antibody-drug conjugate engineered to minimize off-target toxicity and is planned to enter a Phase 1/2 trial in 2024. The company closed an oversubscribed $132.5 million Series C, including conversion of a $5 million convertible instrument, to advance clinical development of ENV-101 and ENV-501. Leadership states the financing and board support position the company to pursue key clinical milestones in 2024 and beyond. Endeavor BioMedicines is a clinical-stage biotechnology company targeting the core drivers of terminal diseases, including oncology and fibrosis. Its lead program, ENV-101 (taladegib), is an oral small-molecule inhibitor of the PTCH1 receptor in the Hedgehog signaling pathway and has shown clinical efficacy and safety in nearly 200 subjects across six completed studies. The company is pursuing precision, tumor-agnostic approaches for ENV-101 in cancers with oncogenic PTCH1 mutations (found in approximately 2% of cancers) and is enrolling a Phase 2 oncology trial (NCT05199584) as well as a Phase 2 study in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (NCT04968574). ENV-201 is an oral ULK1/2 inhibitor designed to block autophagy in KRAS- and STK11-mutated cancers; Endeavor plans to complete IND-enabling studies and advance the program into the clinic within the next year. The firm emphasizes genetically defined patient selection and combination strategies with chemo-, targeted-, and immuno-therapies to overcome resistance. Recently raised capital will be used to advance these pipeline programs toward clinical milestones. Endeavor BioMedicines is developing taladegib, an inhibitor targeting the hedgehog signaling pathway to treat pulmonary disease, specifically idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The company will use its Series A funding to support two Phase 2 clinical trials that will assess whether taladegib can reverse or slow IPF progression. IPF is characterized by lung tissue scarring and has an estimated mean survival of 2–5 years from diagnosis. Endeavor is led by co-founder and CEO John Hood and co-founder and chief science officer Miguel de los Rios. The startup emerged from stealth with a $62 million Series A raised from Omega Funds and Longitude Capital, plus participation from the company’s management team. CEO John Hood previously led Impact Biomedicines, which was acquired by Celgene for up to $7 billion.

Participated · Series B · Nov 2021

Quell Therapeutics is a London, UK and Boston, MA-based company developing engineered T‑regulatory (Treg) cell therapies to address serious medical conditions driven by the immune system. Its platform is designed to enable the design, engineering and scalable manufacture of therapeutic Treg products, and includes proprietary Phenotype‑Lock technology to stabilise an immunosuppressive phenotype, CAR modules for tissue targeting, and additional modules to enhance disease‑specific efficacy and safety. The lead candidate, QEL-001, is an antigen‑specific multi‑modular CAR‑Treg being developed to induce operational tolerance following liver transplantation and is entering the LIBERATE Phase 1/2 clinical trial. Quell is also advancing programs in neuroinflammatory and autoimmune diseases and is developing both autologous and allogeneic CAR‑Treg platforms. The company intends to use recently raised capital to fund LIBERATE, advance its pipeline across transplantation, neuroinflammation and autoimmunity, and accelerate platform development. Quell raised $156M in a Series B to support these efforts. Quell Therapeutics is developing engineered T regulatory (Treg) cell therapies that leverage Tregs' immune-suppressive capacity. The company aims to advance therapies for indications including solid organ transplant rejection and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Quell was founded by Syncona in partnership with six leading experts in Treg biology, cell engineering, transplantation and autoimmune disease. The company plans to use the Series A proceeds to initiate development of its first program and to build out operations and its management team. Syncona's team will work closely with Quell as it advances its programs and expands the company.