Venture Funding Deals: MedImmune Spinout Viela Lands $250m Series A

China's JW Therapeutics nets $90m for cancer cell therapy, including backing from biotechs Celgene and WuXi. Meanwhile, Foghorn sounds out a $50m A round for its gene trafficking technology applications.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Venture Funding Deals column provides a comprehensive monthly review of emerging biopharmaceutical companies that have received venture funding. This month’s column covers deals announced in March 2018.

Viela Bio Launches With $250m Series A

Viela Bio, a new company developing autoimmune and inflammatory disease therapeutics, raised $250m in its Series A round. Boyu Capital, 6 Dimensions Capital and Hillhouse Capital led, and were joined by Temasek and Sirona Capital. Concurrent with the Series A, Viela was spun off of MedImmune LLC and granted rights to a handful of preclinical- and clinical-stage assets which fall outside of MedImmune's core areas of focus.

Included are the anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody inebilizumab, in Phase II for neuromyelitis optica; VIB4920 (MEDI4920), in Phase I for Sjogren’s syndrome; VIB7734 (MEDI7734), in Phase I for myositis; and three undisclosed preclinical candidates. Series A proceeds will support inebilizumab's Phase II study (the candidate received orphan drug status from both the US FDA and EMA) and will also go towards the company's other development activities.

Viela is initially located at MedImmune's headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., under the direction of former MedImmune SVP Bing Yao. The company, whose largest minority shareholder is MedImmune parent AstraZeneca PLC, hopes to build a staff of up to 100 by 2023.

JW Therapeutics Brings In $90m Through Series A Round

JW Therapeutics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (cell-based immunotherapies for cancer) raised $90m through its Series A round. Investors included Temasek, Sequoia Capital China, YuanMig Capital, Oriza Seed Capital, Yipu Capital, AVICT Global Holdings and company founders WuXi AppTec Inc. and
Juno Therapeutics Inc.. WuXi and Juno formed JW as a 50/50 joint venture in 2016, granting the firm access to Juno’s chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T-cell receptor (TCR) technologies, along with Wuxi’s manufacturing and contract research services.

JW’s first candidate JWCAR029, directed at CD19, is in early clinical trials for B-cell malignancies including relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Series A funds will support continued development of the candidate and will also be used to expand JW’s pipeline and construct a new manufacturing facility.

Flagship Pioneering Commits $50m To Foghorn Therapeutics' Series A Round

Flagship Pioneering launched a new drug-discovery firm in 2016 named Foghorn Therapeutics and has committed up to $50m in Series A funding to the firm. Foghorn is developing new drug candidates based on its “Gene Traffic Control” platform, which studies the chromatin regulatory system and its role in disease progression.

The chromatin regulatory system directs which genes cells express, as well as the timing, location and order of such expression. Breakdown in this system is a major (and under-studied) cause of cancer and other diseases. Foghorn has created and validated six programs already, and is using its discovery engine to uncover many more targets. The company’s initial focus is cancer, but it plans to also evaluate potential applications in neurology and immunology.

Foghorn was founded by Cigall Kadoch , Douglas Cole and Gerald Crabtree. President and CEO Adrian Gottschalk hails from a 13-year stint at Biogen Inc., with roles in corporate and commercial strategy and most recently, head of the company’s neurodegeneration therapy area.

CARsgen Brings In $60m Through Pre-C Financing

Shanghai-based immuno-oncology company CARsgen Therapeutics received commitments from new and existing investors for a $60m pre-C financing framework agreement. Proceeds will support upcoming IND submissions and continued development of pipeline projects including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy candidates for glioblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, gastric and pancreatic cancers, leukemia and multiple myeloma. The company notes that funds will also be used for company restructuring ahead of a planned IPO in the near future

Crinetics Closes $63.5m Series B Round

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (therapies for endocrine disorders) raised $63.5m via its Series B financing led by Perceptive Advisors, which was joined by first-time backers RA Capital and OrbiMed and returning shareholders 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures and Vivo Capital. The company will use the funding for pipeline development including ongoing Phase I trials of CRN00808 for acromegaly. A representative from Perceptive Advisors and Vivo Capital will join Crinetics' board.

Cullgen Raises Up To $15m In Seed Funding

Cullgen Inc. has been formed by GNI Group Ltd., which will seed the drug-discovery firm with up to $15m. Additional founders include Yue Xiong from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Jian Jin from Icahn School of Medicine (who both have seats on the company’s board of directors). Cullgen is developing therapies for difficult-to-treat diseases, with an initial focus on cancer and future work planned in immune and inflammatory conditions.

The company’s uSMITE ubiquitin-mediated protein-degradation technology will be used for selective degradation of disease-causing proteins, with an effort to reach previously undruggable targets. Research by Xiong into the cullin-RING family of E3 ubiquitin ligases and its components forms the basis for uSMITE and Cullgen’s continued research into small molecule-mediated selective targeting of protein degradation. The company is based in the US, with additional research facilities planned in Japan and China.

Cyteir Closes $29m Series B

Cyteir Therapeutics Inc. (developing therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases) raised $29m in its Series B financing led by Venrock, which was joined by returning shareholder Celgene Corp. and first-time backers Lightstone Ventures and DROIA Oncology Ventures.

The company will use the funds for ongoing development of small molecule RAD51 inhibitors aimed at cancer. Clinical trials are expected to commence in 2019. Additional proceeds will help advance its preclinical autoimmune disease candidates. Cyteir is focusing on synthetic lethality, or the interaction between two genes that causes cell death when both are inactivated. This makes the disease-causing cells highly sensitive to drugs that target specific DNA repair factors.

While there are other companies such as Tango Therapeutics, Repare Therapeutics Inc. and IDEAYA Biosciences Inc. that are studying the concept of synthetic lethality, Cyteir is the first to pursue a gain-of-function approach as opposed to a loss-of-function approach which targets diseases with DNA mutations. Cyteir is focused on diseases with gain-of-function in the AID gene; abnormal gain of AID function occurs in a wide range of cancer cells and autoimmune diseases, but not in healthy tissues.

Cyteir is led by CEO Markus Renschler, who previously worked at Celgene where he headed up the clinical development of Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) in pancreatic and lung cancers. Representatives from Venrock, Lightstone and DROIA will take board seats, while a Celgene member will join as a board observer.

Escalier Biosciences Brings In $19m Through Series B Round

Escalier Biosciences BV (retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor gamma, or RORyt, compounds for dermatology and auto-immune conditions) closed a $19m Series B round led by new backer Forbion (adds one of its partners to Escalier's board), which was joined by returning investors New Science Ventures and BioGeneration Ventures (BGV). The 2016 start-up's drug development is centered around the RORyt nuclear hormone receptor, a known regulator of Th17 cell differentiation, and an inhibitor of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin 17A (IL-17A) and IL-17F, increased production of which are associated with psoriasis and other immune-mediated diseases.

Escalier has in its pipeline both topical and oral RORyt psoriasis candidates it hopes to develop as alternatives to existing psoriasis treatments, to serve all segments of the disease population, including the mild, moderate and severe categories. Current topical therapies contain corticosteroids and vitamin D analogs, which can pose potential serious side effects with long-term use. The approved systemic drugs consist of injectable biologics, which target different inflammatory cytokine pathways (IL-17 and IL-23), and just one oral therapy: Celgene's PDE4 inhibitor Otelza (apremilast).

Escalier expects to be in the clinic in mid-2018 with the topical compound for mild-to-moderate psoriasis and in late-2018 with its oral RORyt agonist for moderate-to-severe forms of the disease. It will use the proceeds of the financing to advance these candidates through human proof-of-concept.

Finch Therapeutics Closes $36m Series B

Finch Therapeutics Group Inc. (microbial therapies) raised $36m in an oversubscribed Series B financing from Shumway Capital, Willett Advisors, Morgan Noble and Avenir Growth Capital. In October 2017, the company merged with fellow closely held microbiome company Crestovo.

Finch's Full-Spectrum Microbiota platform is designed to restore the healthy microbiome in the gut. Lead candidate CP101 is in Phase II for C. difficile infections and has fast track status from the FDA. Since its inception in 2014, Finch has raised $77m.

Gelesis Nabs $30m In Late-Stage Round

Gelesis Inc. (developing therapies for diseases tied to the gastrointestinal pathway) raised $30m in a late-stage financing to undisclosed new and returning shareholders. The company will use the funds for pipeline development, including candidates for Type II diabetes and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis/non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and for regulatory application submissions for its Gelesis100 hydrogel-based anti-obesity treatment in the US and EU as it prepares for potential commercialization later this year.

Hoth Therapeutics Raises $3m Series A Round To Advance Atopic Dermatitis Candidate

Dermatology-focused start-up Hoth Therapeutics Inc. raised $3m in a Series A round in which Laidlaw & Co. was the placement agent. The company will use the proceeds to advance development of the BioLexa drug compound platform it exclusively licensed from the University of Cincinnati, where it was invented by Andrew Herr. The technology combines already-approved drugs, a zinc ion chelating agent, and one or more antibiotics, which together create a topical dosage form that inhibits the formation of biofilms (microorganisms that adhere to a surface) caused by exposure to salt, water and perspiration, and fights existing bacterial infection.

The company will use the 505(b) (2) regulatory pathway, an approach that relies on a compound's existing safety data to expedite the time to market. Holt is initially researching an immediate-release topical cream formulation for atopic dermatitis (eczema), with a focus on treating flare-ups rather than the resulting symptoms. It hopes to later develop second-generation gel, sprayable and bioresorbable occlusion formulations.

Positive results were demonstrated in a recent preclinical study that assessed the ability of a DTPA zinc chelator, in combination with a commonly known topical antibiotic, gentamicin, to inhibit eczema-associated S. aureus biofilm formation. In the future, Hoth plans to explore indications in aesthetic dermatology to reduce post-procedure infections.

Hua Medicine Raises $117.4m Through Combined Series D/E

Hua Medicine Ltd. (developing therapies for type II diabetes) raised $117.4m in a combined Series D and E financing to first-time backers including Blue Pool Capital, GIC Private Ltd., AVICT Global, 6 Dimensions Capital, Adrian Cheng (via K11 Investments), Ping An Ventures and Mirae Asset Financial Group, and returning shareholders Arch Venture Partners, Eight Roads, F-Prime Capital Partners, Venrock, WuXi AppTec Corporate Ventures, Ally Bridge Group, Harvest Investments and Hua co-founders and management. The company will use the proceeds to finish Phase III trials and launch its dorzagliatin (HMS5552) fourth-generation glucokinase activator designed to treat the impaired blood glucose sensor function.

Humacyte Closes $75m Series C Round

Humacyte Inc. (extracellular tissue-based products for regenerative medicine) raised $75m from existing investors and new buyer PointState Capital through its Series C round. Funding will support continued development of the Humacyl human acellular vessel conduit, which is in Phase III studies for patients with end-stage renal disease who aren't candidates for fistula placement. Proceeds will also be used to complete a bioprocessing system for Humacyl manufacturing.

IDEAYA Closes $94m Series B Round

Oncology firm IDEAYA Biosciences Inc. raised $94m through a crossover Series B round co-led by Nextech Invest, 6 Dimensions Capital and Perceptive Advisors. Additional new investors BVF Partners, GV, Roche Venture Fund, Tavistock Group's Boxer Capital and Driehaus Capital Management also participated, along with returning backers 5AM Ventures, Canaan Partners, Celgene, WuXi Healthcare Ventures and Alexandria Venture Investments. Nextech and 6 Dimensions join the company's board, while BVF, GV and Roche Venture Fund take observer seats.

IDEAYA is developing next-gen biomarker-enabled synthetic lethality candidates for cancer, and will use the Series B proceeds to advance its pipeline into clinical trials.

Danish Neuromuscular Disease Start-Up NMD Pharma Raises €38m In Series A Round

NMD Pharma AS (oral therapeutics for orphan neuromuscular diseases) raised €38m ($46.9m) in a Series A round from new investors INKEF Capital (lead) and Roche Venture Fund, along with returning backers Novo Seeds and Lundbeckfonden Emerge. The 2015 start-up will use the proceeds to bring two of its small-molecule voltage-gated chloride ion channel 1 (ClC-1) inhibitor programs through proof-of-concept.

Using a science platform discovered at Aarhus University, NMD has shown that inhibiting ClC-1 - which plays a role in communication between the CNS and skeletal muscle - can strengthen signal transmission between the nerve and muscle fibers to increase muscle function. NMD's approach has demonstrated positive preclinical data in orphan diseases myasthenia gravis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and as a potential treatment to reverse induced neuromuscular blockade in in-hospital critical care settings. NMD previously raised $3m in a 2016 seed round.

Prevail Therapeutics Raises $75m In Series A Round

Gene therapy start-up Prevail Therapeutics Inc. (neurodegenerative disorders) raised $75m in a Series A round from OrbiMed (a returning seed investor), Pontifax Fund, RA Capital Management, EcoR1 Capital, Omega Funds, BVF Partners, Boxer Capital, Adage Capital Management and Alexandria Venture Investments. With science discovered by a Columbia University team led by Asa Abeliovich (Prevail's CEO), the company was launched last year by OrbiMed, non-profit organization Silverstein Foundation for Parkinson’s with GBA (invests in therapies for Parkinson's disease (PD) in glucocerebrosidase (GBA1) mutation carriers) and REGENXBIO Inc..

Prevail will use the proceeds to build a pipeline of neurodegenerative disease gene therapies. The stealthy Prevail is developing a lead program in PD partnered with REGENXBIO under an August 2017 deal in which it will use REGENXBIO's adeno-associated virus vector NAV AAV9 gene delivery technology. With an approach that introduces a functioning copy of the damaged gene, Prevail hopes to reverse or stop the damage caused by PD instead of just managing its symptoms and plans to focus its efforts on a genetically-defined subset of PD patients, specifically those with a rare form associated with a GBA1 gene mutation.

Series B Lands $10m For Prokarium

Synthetic biology firm Prokarium raised $10m in its Series B financing round led by the Riyadh Valley Co., which was joined by Flerie Invest and Korea Investment Partners. The six-year-old company developed the Vaxonella oral thermostable vaccine delivery platform. The technology is advantageous over other injectable vaccine platforms because it can trigger mucosal and cellular immunity, and target diseases that are hard to prevent.

With the Series B proceeds, Prokarium plans to conduct clinical trials of vaccines for Chlamydia, C. difficile and typhoid and paratyphoid fevers, and also expand its R&D immuno-oncology team. The firm also has a Phase I plague vaccine in development.

Rheos Launches With $60m Investment From Third Rock

Third Rock Ventures launched [Rheos Medicines Inc.] and contributed $60m in Series A financing. Rheos is studying immunometabolism as a way to regulate metabolic pathways in immune cells to treat disease. It seeks to concurrently identify new targets and biomarkers, thus enabling a precision medicine approach for treating immune-mediated disorders. It has two preclinical programs: the first targets the CD4 T cell for treating inflammatory bowel disease, lupus and psoriasis; and the second targets CD8 as a potential treatment for autoimmune thyroiditis, immune-oncology indications and vitiligo.

Rubius Closes Series C Round Of More Than $100m

Rubius Therapeutics Inc. (cell therapies) raised $101.2m in an oversubscribed Series C financing. According to the Form D, 27 investors participated. The company is developing Red-Cell Therapeutics (RCT) allogeneic products with extended stability and storage. Rubius will use the funds to move RTC therapies into the clinic and enhance its manufacturing capabilities.

Synthetic Biology Start-Up Senti Biosciences Raises $53m In Series A Round

Synthetic biology start-up Senti Biosciences Inc. (cell- and gene-based therapies) raised $53m in a Series A round led by New Enterprise Associates, which was joined by 8VC, Amgen Ventures, Pear Ventures, Lux Capital, Menlo Ventures, Allen & Co., Nest.Bio, Omega Funds, Goodman Capital and LifeForce Capital.

The company, which was founded 2016, will use the proceeds to accelerate the scaling of its genetic circuit programming platform, from which Senti hopes to develop clinical treatments across cancer, regenerative medicine and autoimmune disease. Bringing together research across various institutions, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wyss Institute, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Boston University and ETH Zurich, Senti's science is designed to program adaptive therapies to fix errors in the genetic program, which makes up the code that controls human biology. Its adaptive therapy technology is targeted to specific tissues and enables the construction of synthetic genetic circuits that act locally, are controlled externally, sense and respond to various disease markers, and make use of multiple therapeutic functions to enhance cell and gene therapies.

Syndesi Therapeutics Launches With €17m Series A

Syndesi Therapeutics SA (cognitive disorders) has launched with a €17m ($21m) Series A round from an investor syndicate co-led by Novo Seeds and Fountain Healthcare and including JJDC, V-Bio Ventures, SRIW Life Sciences' Walloon Investment Fund and the Vives-Louvain Technology Fund. The company, which will be based in Belgium, was formed to advance UCB Group's small-molecule pipeline of compounds for cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias and cognitive impairments associated with schizophrenia, and concurrently licensed UCB's program in this area.

The science involves molecules that uniquely modulate the synaptic vesicle protein SV2A, which plays a fundamental role in the communication process (known as synaptic transmission) between neurons in the brain. Lead compound SDI118 has demonstrated pro-cognitive properties in preclinical models. The start-up plans to use the proceeds of this financing to fund the clinical development of SDI118 up to early proof-of-concept in humans.

TCR2 Closes $125m Series B Round

TCR2 Therapeutics Inc. (immuno-oncology) raised $125m through its Series B round. Curative Ventures and 6 Dimensions Capital co-led and were joined by additional new investors Redmile Group, ArrowMark Partners, Hillhouse Capital Group, Mirae Asset Financial Group, Syno Capital, Haitong International Securities, Lucion Group, Sirona Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments and affiliates of Leerink Partners. Existing investors MPM Capital, F2 Ventures and Cathay Fortune Capital Investment also participated.

TCR2 was formed in 2015 and emerged from stealth mode at the end of 2016 with a $44.5m Series A round. The company uses its TRuC platform to design candidates that can reprogram the body’s natural T-cell receptor complex and initiate the killing of cancer cells in both solid and blood tumors. Series B proceeds will support advancement of lead candidates through human proof-of-concept, and will also be used further development and enhance the TRuC technology.

Lead solid tumor candidate TC210 targets mesothelin and is in preclinical studies for ovarian cancer, mesothelioma, cholangiocarcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer, while a second solid tumor candidate (known only as “Program X”) will be nominated later this year. TCR2 is also working on a dual CD19/22 inhibitor in preclinical for ALL, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and CLL.

Tempest Supports Cancer Drug Development With $70m Series B Round

Oncology start-up Tempest Therapeutics Inc. raised $70m through its Series B round. Founding investor Versant Ventures led, while F-Prime Capital Partners, Quan Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, Foresite Capital and Eight Roads Ventures also participated. Versant, F-Prime and Quan all take board seats.

Tempest was spun out of Versant’s Inception Sciences discovery engine late last year and is headed by former Aduro BioTech Inc. Chief Scientific Officer Tom Dubensky. The company is developing Inception’s small-molecule therapies that modulate immune response pathways, and will use the Series B proceeds to advance lead candidate TPST8844 into clinical trials within the next year. TPST8844 is an IDO inhibitor being studied in combination with checkpoint inhibitors (such as PD-1) for multiple cancers. Tempest has three other projects in its pipeline, including TPST1120 (a PPARa antagonist), E-prostanoid (EP) receptor antagonists and an undisclosed program.

Series A Lands $10m For TwoXAR

twoXAR Inc. (using artificial intelligence in drug discovery) raised $10m in a Series A financing led by SoftBank Ventures, which was joined by OS Fund and returning shareholder Andreessen Horowitz Bio Fund. The company will use the funds for in-licensing opportunities and preclinical studies of its pipeline candidates.

Unlike traditional drug-discovery techniques, twoXAR's platform can identify compounds for in vivo studies in weeks as opposed to years. It has candidates for various disease areas including liver cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and type II diabetes. A representative from SoftBank and Andreessen Horowitz will join the board.

Unity Biotech Raises $55m Via Series C

Unity Biotechnology Inc. (developing therapies that slow, halt or reverse age-related diseases) raised $55m in its Series C financing to first-time backers EcoR1 Capital Fund, 6 Dimensions Capital and Altitude Life Science Ventures, which were joined by returning shareholders Fidelity Management, Baillie Gifford, Partner Fund Management, Pivotal Alpha, Invus Opportunities, Arch Venture Partners, Venrock, Founders Fund and the Longevity Fund. The company will use the funding to move its lead senolytic candidates into the clinic. Unity closed a $151m Series B round last year

ViewPoint Nabs $35m In Series B Round

Ophthalmic-focused ViewPoint Therapeutics Inc. raised $35m in a Series B financing led by Novo Holdings, which adds a board member and was joined by returning shareholders Biotechnology Value Fund, Mission Bay Capital, Lagunita BioSciences, the University of Michigan and company co-founder and board chairman Ed Hurwitz. ViewPoint will use the funds to move its lead compound VP1001 through clinical proof-of-concept for patients with cataracts and presbyopia. Additional money will support ongoing development of second-generation compounds.

Xeris Secures $45m In term Loan Agreement

Drug delivery firm Xeris Pharmaceuticals Inc. entered into a $45m term loan agreement with Silicon Valley Bank and Oxford Finance; terms were not disclosed. The company will use the proceeds for NDA submission and pre-commercial activities for its glucagon rescue pen for treating severe hypoglycemia in diabetic patients

From the Editors of Start-Up