Erenumab (Genetical Recombination)

While the approval of the first CGRP inhibitor in 2018 was a watershed moment for the migraine disease space, too many patients still have too many migraines, Vedana Therapeutics CEO Anurag Agarwal told FirstWord. The biotech, which launched on Wednesday with $46 million in series A funding, is led by experts who helped usher in the first migraine revolution — but recognise that more work is needed. CGRP inhibitors "were the first specialised treatments designed for migraine patients," Agarwal said. "However, two-thirds of patients don't have sufficient benefits, they don't have deep reductions in migraine days" after trying therapies like Amgen's Aimovig (erenumab-aooe) or Teva's Ajovy (fremanezumab-vfrm). To help non-responders get migraine relief, Vedana is developing antibodies that inhibit a wholly independent pathway involving pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP). "PACAPs, like CGRPs, have been shown that when you infuse it in migraine patients, it induces migraine-like headaches. But unlike CGRPs, it induced a much broader symptomology of migraine… [like] facial puffing, neck stiffness," Agarwal said. In early studies, even with complete CGRP blockade, the infusion of PACAPs still drove migraines, demonstrating that it is a "complementary pathway that could address what is not being addressed by CGRPs today," he added. The company's two lead programmes are a next-generation anti-PACAP mAb and a dual-targeting PACAP/CGRP bispecific antibody. With Wednesday's funding, co-led by Westlake BioPartners and Canaan Partners, Vedana hopes to move both into the clinic next year.Migraine competitionThe biotech is not alone in its pursuit of PACAP inhibition, however. Lundbeck looks to be the most advanced with bocunebart, a PACAP-targeting mAb that recently met the primary endpoint of a Phase IIb migraine study, though several others, including newly public Mentari Therapeutics and Slate Medicines, have preclinical PACAP assets.  Despite the rapidly forming PACAP competition, Agarwal isn't worried, noting that CGRP development was also a crowded field. He also called the early success of Lundbeck's programme "wonderful" for patients. How Vedana will stand out, he said, is with best-in-class treatments that are more potent, long-acting, and can be delivered subcutaneously in a patient's home with an autoinjector. "Our goal is to be able to give medicines that are easily delivered to a large number of patients," Agarwal added.Lending Vedana a hand in meeting that goal is its team of experienced migraine scientists. Leon Garcia, the company's other co-founder and chief scientist, previously led the discovery and development of both anti-CGRP and -PACAP antibodies at Alder BioPharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Lundbeck in 2019 for close to $2 billion. Chief Medical Officer Ernesto Aycardi steered the pivotal and post-marketing studies for Ajovy, and Rob Lenz, executive chairman of the board, helmed Aimovig's development in his past role as Amgen's head of global development. "We have that unique experience of discovering, developing and bringing to patients migraine therapies. We have a team that has done that from the early to the late stages. So I think that we are in a very unique position to lead the field," Aycardi told FirstWord. "This company in the future is going to be the migraine company."

Seattle-based Vedana Therapeutics has launched from stealth with a USD 46 million Series A financing round to advance a portfolio of antibody-based therapies targeting clinically validated pathways for migraine prevention. The round was co-led by Westlake BioPartners and Canaan Partners, with participation from Dawn Biopharma and Alexandria Venture Investments. Vedana’s pipeline centers on pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) biology. Its lead program is a next-generation anti-PACAP antibody, and its second program is a bispecific antibody targeting both PACAP and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). PACAP is a neuropeptide that, like CGRP, plays a documented role in migraine physiology. Vedana’s antibodies are designed as long-acting, subcutaneously delivered agents intended for self-injection. CGRP-targeted antibodies — including erenumab (Aimovig), fremanezumab (Ajovy), and galcanezumab (Emgality) — established the first generation of preventive migraine biologics and represented a meaningful clinical advance. However, the company and its investors contend that approximately two-thirds of patients remain inadequately controlled on existing therapies, creating a substantial opportunity for agents targeting complementary biology such as PACAP. Competitors in the emerging PACAP space include Lundbeck, which acquired Alder BioPharmaceuticals — the company where Vedana’s co-founder and chief scientific officer Leon Garcia, Ph.D., previously led anti-CGRP and anti-PACAP antibody discovery — and AbbVie, which has disclosed PACAP-targeting programs. This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed and edited by the AllSci editorial team Explore more at AllSci News: https://allsci.com/news/ Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website Privacy Terms About Us Copyright © 2026. AllSci Corp. All rights reserved.