Augustine decloaks with $85m for nerve disease programme

Augustine Therapeutics has raised €78 million ($85 million) in first-round funding for a pipeline headed by a candidate for the inherited neurological disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT).

The Leven, Belgium-based biotech has built its business around a series of inhibitors of the HDAC6 enzyme, which is implicated in various neuromuscular, neurodegenerative, and cardio-metabolic diseases.

HDAC inhibitors are already on the market for cancer and some other indications – including Duchenne muscular dystrophy. However, the development of selective HDAC6 inhibitors for cancer has been plagued by limited clinical efficacy, acquired resistance to the drugs, and safety issues resulting from the blockade of beneficial, non-enzymatic functions of the protein.

Augustine believes its "next-generation" cytosolic HDAC6 inhibitors avoid the limitations of earlier drugs, while its focus on non-cancer indications can give it a better chance of bringing candidates successfully to regulatory approval.

Its pipeline is headed by CMT candidate AGT-100216, with the new funding earmarked for a phase 1/2 proof-of-concept clinical trial and advancing two other discovery-stage programmes looking at a pair of peripherally-restricted and blood-brain barrier-penetrant HDAC6 inhibitors for undisclosed cardio-metabolic and neurodegenerative indications, respectively.

Augustine's pipeline draws on discoveries in the lab of Professor Ludo Van Den Bosch of Belgium's Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB) Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research, a renowned expert in neurodegeneration.

His team discovered that inhibiting HDAC was able to reverse the loss of nerve fibres (axons) in a mouse model of CMT, and Augustine has been formed as a spin-out of VIB to advance the finding.

CMT is a group of inherited conditions characterised by damage to peripheral nerves that can lead to muscle weakness, an awkward gait, foot problems, and numbness in the extremities. It is a progressive disease, generally starting between the ages of five and 15, and can become extremely debilitating.

While relatively rare, it is estimated to affect around three million people worldwide and has no approved treatments, with most patients managing their symptoms using physiotherapy and sometimes surgery for specific conditions like flat feet.

Augustine's chief executive is Gerhard Koenig, a biotech industry veteran who founded and led neurodegenerative disease specialist Arkuda Therapeutics before its assets were bought by Johnson & Johnson in January.

"The therapeutic potential of HDAC6 is widely recognised in our industry, but previous drug approaches have been sub-optimal, particularly for chronic diseases," said Koenig.

"At Augustine, we believe we have solved these challenges with a novel non-hydroxamate, non-hydrazide producing chemotype, which is highly selective and avoids the typical limitations of prior chemotypes."

The Series A was co-led by Novo Holdings and Jeito Capital and supported by existing investors Asabys Partners, Eli Lilly, AdBio partners, V-Bio Ventures, PMV, VIB, Gemma Frisius Fund, the US-based Charcot-Marie-Tooth Research Foundation and Newton Biocapital.