Windward raises $165m for TSLP drug, and other biofinancings

Swiss biotech Windward Bio is planning to take on some heavyweight rivals with its TSLP-acting drug for inflammatory respiratory and dermatological diseases – a mission that will be helped by adding $165 million in crossover financing to its cash reserves.

Basel-based Windward said the money will extend its cash runway through some key clinical readouts for its pipeline, led by WIN378, a long-acting TSLP inhibitor that could be dosed just twice a year and is in the phase 2/3 POLARIS asthma programme. Windward is hoping to report dosing data from the phase 2 portion of the study later this year, with phase 3 starting in the fourth quarter. A phase 2 study in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is also scheduled to start shortly.

The drug – licensed from China's Kelun-Biotech – is aiming to compete with first-to-market TSLP drug Tezspire (tezepelumab), which is marketed by Amgen and AstraZeneca and dosed once every four weeks. Tezspire launched in 2022 and has grown strongly to reach almost $1.5 billion in sales last year.

Windward's pipeline also includes TSLP and IL-13-targeting WIN027, sourced from China's Qyuns Therapeutics, which is in phase 1. It shares the mechanism of some other experimental therapies, including Sanofi's lunsekimig, which recently showed efficacy in phase 2 for asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), but missed the mark in atopic dermatitis.

The round, which takes the total raised by Windward to date above $365 million, was led by OrbiMed, with participation from RA Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors, and Sanofi Ventures.

Other recent VC rounds

Coultreon Biopharma of Leuven, Belgium, formerly known as Onco3R Therapeutics, announced its new identity alongside a $125 million Series A, led by Sofinnova, Forbion, and Novo Holdings. The financing is earmarked for trials of Coultreon's lead immunology drug, COL-5671 (formerly O3R-5671), an oral once-daily SIK3 inhibitor currently in phase 1. Phase 2 trials in psoriasis and ulcerative colitis are in the planning stages, with data readouts scheduled for 2027.

Galapagos, Regeneron Ventures, Balyasny Asset Management, Luma Group, Samsara BioCapital, Longwood Fund, and Finchley Healthcare Ventures also participated in the round.

Shanghai, China-based Vivacta Biotechnology has closed a $50 million-plus Series A, with an extension, that will be used to advance clinical trials of its in vivo CAR-T therapy, GT801, for relapsed or refractory CD19-positive B-cell malignancies, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Initial clinical results with the CAR-T were reported at last year's ASH congress, generating partial responses without the lymphodepleting chemotherapy needed with current ex vivo CAR-T therapies.

The two rounds of Series A financing were led by Loyal Valley Capital and Decheng Capital, respectively, and joined by new investors OrbiMed, Hankang Capital, Eisai Innovation, and C&D Emerging Industry Equity Investment, as well as by existing backers Qiming Venture Partners, Beijing Shunxi, and Apricot Capital.

US biotech Kanvas Biosciences raised $48 million in first-round financing – co-led by existing investors DCVC and Lions Capital – that will be used to develop microbiome-based therapies based on the gut microflora of a cancer survivor whose gut bacteria seem to have enhanced the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Researchers at the Princeton, New Jersey start-up identified bacterial strains in faecal samples from the patient that they think could have helped her recovery from colorectal cancer and recreated this mix in lead candidate KAN-001.

Kanvas is now preparing trials of KAN-001 for cancer, and advancing treatments for other conditions, including immunotherapy-induced colitis, whilst also working with the Gates Foundation on a microbiome-based therapy for a major cause of maternal malnutrition. Gates participated in the round, along with other backers including ATHOS KG, Germin8, Ki Tua Fund, and Pangaea Ventures.

Finally, Sweden's Moleculent closed a $20 million financing round to support an expansion into the US with its functional profiling platform, used to map cell-cell communication at scale in human tissues. The platform is based on assays that detect cell-cell interactions in their native environment, running alongside cell typing analyses that provide the molecular context as they occur.

The new funding will be deployed to develop an automated instrument that will enable large-scale studies using the technology, to expand a pre-launch access programme for academic and biopharma partners, and to build out its commercial operations. It was led by Rubicon Healthcare Partners, with participation from ARCH Venture Partners, Eir Ventures, and other existing investors.

Photo by Imagine Buddy on Unsplash