GRIN raises $140m for epilepsy drug, and other financings

News

Our round-up of recent biotech financings is headed by a $140 million Series D for GRIN Therapeutics, which also scored a $570 million licensing deal with Angelini Pharma.

The New York-based biotech is focused on radiprodil, a glutamate NMDA modulator for a rare group of genetic conditions known as GRIN-related neurodevelopmental disorders (GRIN-NDD), which tend to emerge in childhood and cause seizures, developmental delays, movement issues, and autism-like behaviours.

The new funding comes after GRIN reported encouraging results in a phase 1b study, HONEYCOMB, last year and will support a pivotal phase 3 trial due to start later this year. Another trial (ASTROSCAPE) is testing radiprodil in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type II, two other conditions causing epilepsy.

Angelini is paying $50 million upfront for ex-North American rights to radiprodil, with another $520 million in the offing in milestone payments, and also contributed $65 million to GRIN's fourth-round financing with Blackstone Life Sciences stumping up the remaining $75 million.

Under the terms of the deal, GRIN is retaining US, Canadian and Mexican rights to radiprodil and will continue to lead the clinical development of the drug, sharing some of the costs with its partner. The drug has a breakthrough designation from the FDA as well as Priority Medicine (PRIME) status in the EU.

Other recent funding rounds

Among other private funding rounds completed in the last week, Swiss biotech GlycoEra closed a $130 million Series B led by new investor Novo Holdings, with participation from existing investors including Sofinnova Partners, 5AM Ventures, Roche Ventures, and Bristol Myers Squibb, that will support its pipeline of protein degrader drugs.

The first project earmarked for funding is GE8820, a bispecific molecule that targets and destroys IgG4 autoantibodies, which is scheduled for initial clinical trials later this year. The drug is being developed for autoimmune conditions, such as pemphigus, muscle-specific kinase myasthenia gravis, primary membranous nephropathy, and autoimmune encephalitis.

New start-up Syndeio Biosciences has emerged onto the scene with $90 million in initial financing and a mission to develop a pipeline of treatments for central nervous system diseases, headed by zelquistinel, a glutamate NMDA modulator currently in a phase 2 trial for major depressive disorder (MDD). A study in Alzheimer's disease is also in the planning stages.

Another Syndeio candidate for MDD, apimostinel, another glutamate-acting drug, is being tested in an investigator-led phase 2a clinical study in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh. The Indianapolis company's initial investors include Catalio Capital Management, Innoviva, Tenmile, Luson Bioventures, and Palo Santo, alongside pharma backers AbbVie and Lilly.

UK-based Juvenescence, which specialises in diseases of ageing, has gathered $76 million from the first tranche of a Series B-1 round led by Abu Dhabi investment fund M42, with a second tranche expected to close fully in the third quarter of this year.

The company is aiming to have five drug candidates in phase 1 or 2 clinical trials by the end of this year, including an oral, small-molecule PAI-1 inhibitor, partnered with the University of Michigan, that is being developed to treat disease associated with fibrosis (scarring).

Finally, another new player on the biotech scene, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Vima Therapeutics, has completed a $60 million first round led by Atlas Venture that will go towards the clinical development of a potentially first-in-class therapy for movement disorder isolated dystonia. Access Industries and Canaan also participated in the financing.

The are currently no existing treatments that tackle the underlying disease process in isolated dystonia, according to Vima, whose oral, small-molecule VIM0423 candidate targets muscarinic cholinergic receptors in the brain. It is currently in a phase 1 trial with a phase 2 study planned.