Baxdrostat

Financing brings total funds raised to $176M to advance diverse portfolio of high-impact medicines and expand efforts to additional high unmet needs Current portfolio of CinCos include two clinical-stage obesity therapeutics, two Phase 2 gastrointestinal programs and several pre-clinical programs CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CinRx Pharma, a hub-and-spoke biotech accelerating high-impact medicines, today announced the closing of a $73 million financing, bringing the total funds raised to $176 million. Participants in the round include prior investors comprised of industry insiders and high-net-worth individuals. To date, CinRx has launched five companies (“CinCos”) focused primarily on cardiovascular, metabolic and gastrointestinal conditions. In addition to its company creation function, CinRx has forged several CINergy partnerships with existing companies. CinRx plans to use the funds to advance development of its existing portfolio programs and assets to expand in key areas of high unmet medical need. “Our early financings totaling $103 million supported the construction and progression of our seven-company portfolio. Notably, this included the formation, advancement and exit of CinCor Pharma ahead of its $1.8 billion acquisition, underscoring the success of our incredibly effective team and validation of our efficient business model,” said Dr. Jon Isaacsohn, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at CinRx Pharma. “With this infusion of capital, we will continue rapid advancement of existing programs and replicate our proven asset selection process to identify and accelerate more promising new programs with high potential to impact patients’ quality of life.” CinRx’s portfolio of CinCos are managed by a lean team of scientific, technical and drug development experts with decades of experience treating patients and supporting thousands of clinical development programs. Each CinCo was created through a rigorous asset selection process to identify novel therapies with the potential to address significant unmet medical needs and meaningfully reduce disease burden for patients. CinCor Pharma was created to advance baxdrostat (CIN-107), a highly selective, oral small molecule inhibitor of aldosterone synthase for the treatment of hypertension and other cardiorenal conditions from a license agreement with Roche in 2019. CinRx led the clinical design and execution of baxdrostat, and was responsible for CinCor’s successful Series A and Series B financings to fund its early development through its $194 million IPO in 2022. In early 2023, CinCor was acquired by AstraZeneca in a deal worth $1.3 billion upfront and an additional $500 million in biobucks. CinFina Pharma is developing a pipeline of four therapies, in-licensed from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, aimed at providing safe, tolerable and durable options for treating obesity. In March 2024, CinFina announced the dosing of the first patients in a Phase 1 trial of CIN-110, a PYY analog. Upcoming milestones include initiation of a Phase 2 study evaluating CIN-109, a novel GDF-15 molecule focusing on body composition and lean body mass preservation, with and without semaglutide. Additional preclinical development is ongoing to support Investigational New Drug (IND) application submissions for CIN-209 and CIN-210, which are both dual-agonists utilizing GLP-1 therapy in combination with the aforementioned mechanisms of action. CinDome Pharma is developing deudomperidone (CIN-102) as a potential safe, chronic treatment for gastroparesis. Deudomperidone is a novel formulation of a well-known dopamine D2/D3 agonist, domperidone. In May 2023, CinDome presented encouraging QT study data at the 2023 Digestive Disease Week (DDW) Conference. CinDome recently raised $40 million in a Series B financing from Perceptive Advisors and CinRx, and is actively enrolling the Phase 2 envision3D study for adults with diabetic gastroparesis, expected to read out in 2025. CinPhloro Pharma is progressing CIN-103, a small molecule for the long-term management of irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D). CIN-103 is a pulsatile-release formulation of phloroglucinol, an approved therapy in select countries outside of the U.S., modified for sustained exposure and less frequent dosing. In February 2024, CinPhloro dosed the first patients in the Phase 2 enviva study to evaluate the safety, efficacy and tolerability of CIN-103 for IBS-D. CinPhloro is actively enrolling the enviva study, which is expected to complete in 2025. About CinRx Pharma: CinRx Pharma is a biotech company advancing a diverse portfolio of high-impact medicines through clinical development with a unique hub-and-spoke business model. CinRx’s approach combines financing with the efficient progression of therapeutic candidates within its portfolio, each managed by CinRx’s central infrastructure and operating team. Current CinCos address areas of high unmet medical need including metabolic, gastrointestinal and oncology. Differentiated by an asset selection process agnostic to therapeutic area, a strategic CRO partnership, and insights from thousands of development programs, CinRx identifies, funds and accelerates promising drugs with the potential to have the highest impact on patients’ quality of life. CinRx Pharma is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information, please visit or follow the company on X and LinkedIn.

Pictured: Exterior of AstraZeneca’s building in South San Francisco, California/iStock, Michael Vi AstraZeneca announced an ambitious goal last week: to reach $80 billion in total revenue and launch 20 new medicines by 2030. The U.K.-based pharma giant said it plans to focus on improving productivity in its operations and initiating other efforts designed to usher in a “new era” of growth. But how feasible is it for AstraZeneca to hit this lofty target? While AstraZeneca currently has several mid- to late-stage pipeline programs with strong potential, Etzer Darout, a senior biotech analyst at BMO Capital Markets, in an email to BioSpace said the company’s $30 billion goal is “above our and consensus projections.” Other analysts have also provided cautious estimates. AstraZeneca’s “revenue ambition” is “broadly expected” but Jefferies analysts project the company will only reach $70 billion by 2030, while the consensus is around $66.8 billion, according to the firm’s note to investors last week. Still, AstraZeneca has delivered strong and consistent growth from 2018 to 2023 with the help of its product launches. A report last week from Zacks Equity Research noted that the company has been “quite successful with its new products, and almost every new product it has launched in recent years has done well,” as AstraZeneca touts 12 blockbuster drugs. Though the company has a track record of recent success, including delivering last year on its ambitious $45 billion revenue goal set a decade ago, Darout cautioned that past performance is not always an indicator of future results. At the same time, he contends that AstraZeneca’s target for a mid-30% core operating margin by 2026 is achievable, as part of a strategy to focus on improving productivity throughout its operations. Jefferies reiterated its hold rating on AstraZeneca, noting that assets outside of oncology are “largely being ignored” while offering “significant longer-term upside optionality.” AstraZeneca “is primarily a top-line growth and pipeline story,” Jefferies analysts concluded. “However, clear aims from management may be needed for stock upside, and 2024 has fewer major pipeline catalysts.” A major challenge looming on the horizon is patent expirations for AstraZeneca’s key marketed products. Medicines that will lose their exclusivity include the cancer drug Lynparza, which is set to lose its patent this year, as well as the asthma medication Fasenra. The type 2 diabetes therapy Farxiga, which is also used to treat patients with heart failure and chronic kidney disease, will lose its patent in 2025. “Pharma companies face loss of exclusivity, competition and IRA [drug price negotiations] headwinds, so new product launches [are] critical to sustained growth for these companies,” Darout said. “The $80 billion figure the company disclosed takes these headwinds into account.” The Path to $80 Billion CEO Pascal Soriot told investors last week that AstraZeneca will see significant growth from its existing portfolio and that “many” of the 20 new medicines planned for launch by 2030 have the potential to generate more than $5 billion in peak year revenues. But what new products will get across the finish line for AstraZeneca to start reaching its $80 billion goal? Darout estimates that the company has several programs in the mid-to-late stage of development, with at least seven new drugs from its cohort of over 30 in its pipeline that can deliver on AstraZeneca’s $5 billion-plus peak revenue target. These products include the Daiichi Sankyo-partnered antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), which has a target action date for the second line for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) set for Dec. 20, 2024. The ADC is also being investigated in several types of breast cancer. Other oncology assets that have the potential to get over $5 billion in peak revenue include: camizestrant, which is being investigated on its own and in combination for breast cancer which is primarily in the later stages of development; rilvegostomig, in clinical trials for solid tumors and in the late stage for biliary tract cancer; volrustomig, in late stage trials for several types of cancer including NSCLC and cervical cancer; and saruparib, which is in a late-stage trial for metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer. Darout also identified baxdrostat, which has two Phase III trials in chronic kidney disease and hypertension, as a potential blockbuster. AstraZenceca’s recent acquisitions of radiopharma biotech Fusion Pharmaceuticals and cancer biotech Gracell and its partnership with GLP-1 developer Eccogene could all yield lucrative results. “Like other global pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca faces competitive, pricing and regulatory risks as well as loss of exclusivities of key programs,” Darout said. “Loss of exclusivities are more predictable but competition, pricing and regulatory risks are dynamic, and so the impact of these factors is less certain and harder to predict.” Tyler Patchen is a staff writer at BioSpace. You can reach him at tyler.patchen@biospace.com. Follow him on LinkedIn.