Which biotechs have raised new VC financing this week?

Our roundup of venture capital financings in biotech this week is headed by a $152 million round for Vaderis, with Aureka, Epicrispr, Infinimmune, and Boulevard Bio featured.

Vaderis eyes phase 3 runway for rare vascular disorder drug

Switzerland's Vaderis Therapeutics has raked in $152 million in second-round financing, led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and TCGX, which will fund its just-started HEROIC phase 3 trial of AKT inhibitor engasertib as a treatment for hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), a rare vascular disorder with no FDA-approved therapies.

People living with HHT have blood vessels that have not developed properly, known as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), and suffer symptoms like regular and persistent nosebleeds, red spots on the body, and anaemia. In a phase 2 trial, engasertib reduced nosebleed frequency and duration.

Omega Funds, EQT Life Sciences, Perceptive Life Sciences, Medicxi (CalPERS), Kalehua Capital Partners, and existing investors Medicxi and Droia participated in the round.

AI specialist Aureka raises $100m for digital biology platform

Aureka Biotechnologies closed a two-part Series B, raising $100 million, taking the total raised by the Laguna Hills, California-based biotech to date to over $200 million. The proceeds are earmarked for research and large-scale training of its next generation of biological foundation models.

The three-year-old startup is developing a lab-in-the-loop platform for AI-enabled drug discovery that combines AI agents, high-throughput digital biology, proprietary single-cell functional screening, and an in-house experimental platform. Its first foundation model, AuraIDE, is used for biomolecular structure prediction and de novo molecular design.

Granite Asia provided the first portion of the round, and an unidentified "prominent strategic investor" led the second with backing from HighLight Capital and existing shareholders MPCi and NRL Capital.

Programmable epigenetic firm Epicrispr closes third round

Epicrispr Biotechnologies raised $90 million in a Series C that will go towards the pivotal stages of clinical testing for EPI-321, an epigenetic therapy for rare muscle wasting disorder facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD).

The drug is designed to switch off the expression of an aberrant protein implicated in FSHD, known as DUX4, with a one-time intravenous administration, and is currently in a first-in-human phase 1/2 trial, according to the San Francisco, California, company. Preliminary results point to early signs of disease modification, including increases in lean muscle volume.

The financing was co-led by Octagon Capital and Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from Sanofi Ventures, Fidelity Management & Research Co, Cormorant Asset Management, Duquesne Family Office, funds managed by abrdn Inc, Angelini Ventures, Readout Capital, and existing backers.

Infinimmune sets sights on atopic dermatitis with Regeneron-backed round

Infinimmune has added $75 million to its cash reserves with a $75 million Series A co-led by Regeneron Ventures and Playground Global, for clinical development of a pair of antibodies targeting IL-22 and IL-13.

IFX-101 is on track to be the first antibody targeting IL-22 t start clinical testing, accoridng to the Alameda, California startup, while IFX-201 is billed as a "best-in-class" anti-IL-13 drug that could be a rival to Regeneron and Sanofi's blockbuster IL-4 and IL-13 inhibitor Dupixent (dupilumab), with "superior activity and extended dosing intervals." Both are due to start clinical testing next year.

RA Capital Management, Goldcrest Capital, Forge Life Science Partners, Godfrey Capital, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, and Everbright Biofund took part in the round.

Boulevard emerges with $65m for IgAN bispecific candidate

New York biotech Boulevard Bio, set up by a founding team that includes renowned immunology researcher Prof Georg Schett and former Sanofi chief scientific officer Frank Nestle, has emerged from the shadows with a $65 million Series A and early clinical data in hand for a dual BAFF/APRIL-targeting bispecific antibody, BLVD101, which is being developed for IgA nephropathy (IgAN).

The drug, which could be dosed as infrequently as four times a year, is a possible rival to Vera Therapeutics' recently approved BAFF/APRIL inhibitor Trutakna (atacicept) and Otsuka's anti-APRIL drug Voyxact (sibeprenlimab). It was discovered by Deerfield Management's 3DC drug discovery unit.

BLVD101 is heading a pipeline that also includes trispecific drug BLVD-201 – directed at CD3, CD19, and BCMA – which is licensed from China's METiS TechBio and is being developed for various B-cell mediated autoimmune conditions.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay