Crystalys emerges with $205m, and other biofinancings
Crystalys Therapeutics has emerged from its cocoon with $205 million first-round financing and a potential treatment for gout that is already in phase 3 testing.
The Series A, co-led by Novo Holdings, SR One, and Catalys Pacific, will give the San Diego company the financial resources it needs to progress registration trials of dotinurad, which it calls a next-generation oral URAT1 inhibitor that is already backed by "extensive clinical data" from Asia.
Originally discovered by Fuji Yakuhin, dotinurad has already been approved for marketing in Japan under the Urece brand name, as well as in China, Thailand, and the Philippines. It was originally licensed to Fortress Biotech, which was developing it via its Urica Therapeutics subsidiary, which holds an equity stake in Crystalys.
A couple of medicines in the URAT1 inhibitor class have reached the US market, including Ironwood Pharma's Zurampic (lesinurad) and Duzallo (lesinurad plus xanthine oxidase inhibitor allopurinol), but failed to make much of an inroad into the market and were subsequently withdrawn.
Crystalys said dotinurad has "potential best-in-class safety and efficacy" for the treatment of gout with once-daily oral dosing.
Other drugs coming through the URAT1 inhibitor pipeline include Arthrosi Therapeutics' pozdeutinurad (AR882) in phase 3, Atom Bioscience's lingdolinurad (ABP-671) in phase 2b/3, and Hinova's HP501 in mid-stage development, although the latter programme no longer appears in the Chinese biotech's pipeline listing.
Other recent financings
South San Francisco-based Star Therapeutics also added to its coffers this week, via a $125 million Series D led by Viking Global Investors and Sanofi Ventures that will go towards late-stage clinical testing of VGA039, an anti-Protein S antibody in development for clotting disorder Von Willebrand disease (VWD).
VWD affects up to 1% of the global population, making it the most common form of bleeding disorder, and is caused by a deficiency or dysfunction in the protein known as von Willebrand factor (VWF). VGA039 – which can be given as a self-administered, subcutaneous injection – is designed to serve as a universal treatment for clotting disorders, with VWD the first indication. A phase 3 trial of the drug, VIVID-6, started a few weeks ago.
Cardiometabolic disease specialist Sparrow Therapeutics closed a $95 million second round, headed by RA Capital Management and Forbion, and said the proceeds will support phase 2b development of clofutriben, its once daily, oral HSD-1 inhibitor.
Clofutriben is currently being tested in the phase 2b CAPTAIN-T2D trial to see if it can improve glycaemic control in patients who have treatment-resistant type 2 diabetes (T2D) with elevated cortisol, a stress hormone known to raise glucose levels in the blood. Portland, Oregon-based Sparrow is also investigating its potential in other conditions associated with high cortisol, including polymyalgia rheumatica.
Another San Diego start-up, Avenzo Therapeutics, closed a $60 million Series B that will fund its development pipeline of small-molecule drugs and antibody-drug conjugates for cancer. The round was led by OrbiMed and SR One, with the Longwood Fund joining as a new investor, along with participation by a series of existing backers.
Avenzo clinical-stage small-molecule drugs are AVZO-021, a novel CDK2 inhibitor in a phase I trial and CDK4 inhibitor AVZO-023 in phase 1/2, both in development for advanced solid tumours including HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer, partnered with Allorion Therapeutics. It is also running phase 1/2 trials of Nectin4/TROP2-targeting bispecific ADC AVZO-103 and EGFR/HER3 candidate AVZO-1418, also in advanced solid tumours.
Finally, Irish biotech Aerska has raised €19.5 million ($21 million) in seed funding, co-led by Age1 and Backed VC, that will be deployed in the development of gene-silencing, RNA interference (RNAi) medicines aimed at treating and preventing neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
The Dublin company's technology platform is focused on the development of antibody-oligo conjugates (AOCs) that can cross the blood-brain barrier into the central nervous system.
Image by Pabitra Kaity from Pixabay
