Santa Ana Bio raises $168m for inflammatory disease therapies

Santa Ana Bio, a precision immunology company, has secured $168 million in funding through Series A and B financing rounds, aimed at advancing their targeted therapies for inflammatory diseases. This infusion of capital is expected to significantly enhance the company's ability to develop innovative treatments that offer advantages over existing options.

The Series A funding round was spearheaded by Versant Ventures, with contributions from TPG’s Life Science Innovations fund and GV. The Series B round, totaling $125 million, was led by GV and included investments from both existing and new contributors such as Andreessen Horowitz Bio + Health, Access Biotechnology, and RTW.

Santa Ana Bio employs advanced proteomic, transcriptomic, and genomic techniques to pinpoint disease-specific subpopulations and targets that impact only the cells causing the disease, thereby preserving healthy cells. This approach seeks to address the limitations of current biological treatments, which include patient variability, response durability, and safety issues.

Since its establishment in 2022, Santa Ana has made significant progress with three programs, and clinical trials are anticipated to begin in 2025. Each therapy targets the causal cells of inflammatory diseases, promising significant improvements over current and in-development treatments.

One of the company's lead programs, SAB01, is designed to mitigate toxicity by conditionally blocking c-Kit in the presence of a specific anchor target found only on mast cells. SAB01 has shown conditional activity against mast cells in both in vitro and in vivo settings and is set to enter Phase I trials for chronic inducible urticaria next year.

Another promising candidate, SAB03, is on track to enter Phase I trials in 2025, targeting several severe inflammatory conditions. Additionally, the SAB05 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) program introduces a novel antibody-glucocorticoid conjugate technology, allowing the safe use of glucocorticoids without the typical side effects.

Peter Emtage, CEO and board member of Santa Ana, emphasized the potential of precision medicines to target specific cell types and pathways, thereby disrupting the pathogenic processes driving disease. By identifying these pathogenic cell types and pathways and leveraging their extensive protein engineering capabilities, including monoclonal, bi-specific antibodies and ADCs, Santa Ana aims to extend the reach of biologics to a wider range of patients suffering from inflammatory diseases.

Through their focused approach and cutting-edge technology, Santa Ana Bio is poised to make significant strides in the treatment of inflammatory diseases, offering hope for more effective and safer therapies.