Lumena secures $23m funding for rare diseases

San-Diego based Lumena Pharmaceuticals has secured US $23 million in funding, which will be used to advance the clinical development of the company's leading liver disease treatment, LUM001.

The investors of this Series A financing include Pappas Ventures, RiverVest Venture Partners and Alta Partners.

LUM001 is being developed as a possible therapy for progressive liver damage and debilitating symptoms associated with a number of liver conditions in pediatric and adult patients.

"There is an urgent need for effective pharmacological treatments for patients with cholestatic liver disease who experience itching so extreme that it causes severe sleep disruption and scratching with skin destruction and scarring — symptoms which significantly impair quality of life. Lumena's targeted approach to inhibiting bile acid recirculation to the liver with LUM001 may improve liver function, relieve symptoms and dramatically impact patient health without the need for risky surgeries that reduce bile acids."

Mike Grey, president and CEO of Lumena Pharmaceuticals.

Lumena originally licensed LUM001 from Pfizer, where it was previously evaluated as a cholesterol-lowering drug. The drug has been extensively studied in 12 clinical trials in over 1,400 subjects, which have demonstrated that LUM001 can reduce serum bile acid levels and may be effective in managing symptoms in many patients with cholestatic liver disease. LUM001 is therefore positioned for rapid progress through late-stage clinical development.

Lumena also licensed the patent rights and a package of clinical and non-clinical data from Sanofi for LUM002, a highly potent, selective inhibitor of ASBT. Plans to complete phase 1 clinical trials of LUM002 are set for later this year.