Seaport Therapeutics secures $225M for neuropsychiatric drug development

Seaport has innovated a platform called Glyph, which was designed to boost the efficacy and minimize the adverse effects of potential drug candidates. The foundation of this platform originated from Monash University in Australia. Medications developed via the Glyph platform are absorbed through the lymphatic system, similar to the way dietary fats are absorbed.

Seaport recently secured a Series B funding round, augmenting their previously announced $100 million Series A round from April. With this latest addition, the company now boasts $325 million in total funding. General Atlantic led this recent round, and new investors such as T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Foresite Capital, Invus, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, and CPP Investments participated. Original investors like ARCH Venture Partners, Sofinnova Investments, Third Rock Ventures, and co-founder PureTech Health also contributed.

Daphne Zohar, an American entrepreneur, is both the co-founder and CEO of Seaport. Zohar has a rich history in the biotech industry, having previously co-founded PureTech Health almost 20 years ago. During her tenure at PureTech, the company developed 29 therapeutic candidates across various indications, with three receiving FDA approval. PureTech has successfully spun out several companies, including Karuna Therapeutics, which was acquired by BMS earlier this year and was instrumental in developing and gaining approval for the schizophrenia drug Cobenfy (KarXT). Zohar was also a co-founder of Karuna.

In a press statement, Zohar emphasized Seaport’s mission to advance novel therapeutics with proven clinical efficacy that had previously been hampered by challenges that Glyph can now address. "This financing enables the important clinical work that brings us another step closer to delivering new medicines to make a difference in the lives of patients and their families," she remarked.

Seaport is leveraging its substantial fundraising to develop superior psychiatric drugs that are more effective, have a longer duration, and exhibit fewer side effects compared to existing treatments. The Glyph platform offers a second chance to potential neuropsychiatric therapies that might have been abandoned due to adverse events or poor absorption, as well as fostering new drug candidates.

Steve Paul, co-founder and Board Chair at Seaport, highlighted the significant potential of the Glyph platform in overcoming drug development challenges. He cited xanomeline, an effective drug that faced tolerability issues, which were later addressed, leading to the FDA approval of Cobenfy for schizophrenia. Paul expressed confidence that each of Seaport’s programs could deliver similar transformative value for patients with the help of Glyph.

Seaport’s current pipeline includes three candidate medicines. The most advanced is SPT-300, a prodrug of allopregnanolone intended to treat major depressive disorder with or without anxious distress. Allopregnanolone has demonstrated rapid symptom reversal for depression and anxiety but was previously only effective intravenously. Seaport has developed an oral version of this candidate, now in phase 2b.

The other two candidates are in earlier stages of development. SPT-320 is a novel prodrug of agomelatine, soon to enter phase 1 studies for generalized anxiety disorder treatment. Meanwhile, SPT-348 is a prodrug of a non-hallucinogenic neuroplastogen in development for mood and other neuropsychiatric disorders.