PP-405(Pelage Pharmaceuticals)

It’s been a good hair week in the biopharma fundraising realm, with Pelage Pharmaceuticals announcing a $120 million series B Oct. 15. Veradermics locked in a new layer of funding with a $150 million series C financing round that will support its ambitions of bringing a fresh option to the thin treatment landscape for pattern hair loss.The financing was led by SR One and is among the largest in recent history within the aesthetic dermatology field, Veradermics said in an Oct. 16 release. Existing investors including Longitude Capital, Suvretta Capital Management and others were joined by new funders Viking Global Investors, LifeSci Venture Partners, Infinitum and more.With its new funding strands, Veradermics will support its ongoing phase 3 studies for lead program VDPHL01 before preparing FDA filings. The drug candidate is an extended-release oral formulation of minoxidil, the 1980s-approved, now-generic topical hair loss treatment that's branded as Rogaine. According to Veradermics, nearly 90% of patients discontinue Rogaine use due to its “messy” application, leaving a barren treatment market for the common condition.Oral minoxidil is approved to treat high blood pressure and is widely available as an off-label hair loss treatment, but the instant-release formulation limits hair regrowth potential, according to the biopharma.Veradermics’ extended-release version, meanwhile, is meant to lengthen exposure of the drug to hair follicles over time, supporting “fast, consistent and intense” hair growth without the cardiac toxicity risks of standard oral minoxidil.Early results from the company’s ongoing phase 2 study show that male participants achieved an increase in non-vellus target area hair count from baseline while taking VDPHL01 twice daily. By the end of the four-month treatment period, 95% of the 21 men studied expressed increased satisfaction in their hair coverage, the company reports. Data from the female cohort are not yet available. Pattern hair loss, or androgenetic alopecia, impacts an estimated 80 million people in the U.S. High prevalence and a decades-long lack of new treatments make it the largest aesthetic market worldwide, according to Veradermics, with a market exceeding $30 billion by 2028.It’s been a good hair week in the biopharma fundraising realm, as Pelage Pharmaceuticals announced a $120 million series B Wednesday. The regenerative hair-loss-focused biotech plans to put the funds toward phase 3 development of its lead program PP405, a topical small molecule meant to reactivate dormant hair follicle stem cells and restore the body’s ability to naturally grow hair. 

By Sneha S K and Sriparna Roy Bengaluru: Pelage Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday it had closed a $120 million funding round to help advance the development of its novel hair loss treatment . The Series B financing round was co-led by ARCH Venture Partners and Google Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Main Street Advisors, Visionary Ventures and YK Bioventures. Pelage declined to share its valuation. The financing will help the company begin multiple late-stage trials and grow its headcount necessary to conduct larger-scale studies, Chief Medical Officer Christina Weng said. The company plans to begin late-stage trials next year to test its lead experimental program, PP405, which is a non-invasive topical therapy designed to reactivate dormant hair follicle stem cells and restart hair growth in men and women. "The science is a strong differentiator in terms of the mechanism of PP405. It's a regenerative medicine approach that targets the hair follicle stem cells and really addresses the root cause of hair loss, rather than currently available treatments which target secondary drivers like hormones," Weng said. There are currently two FDA-approved drugs for androgenetic alopecia or pattern hair loss - minoxidil and finasteride. Only minoxidil is approved for use in women. In a mid-stage trial, which enrolled 78 men and women with androgenetic alopecia, PP405 met the main goal of being safe and well-tolerated. The trial also showed that 31% of men with a higher degree of hair loss treated with PP405 experienced a more than 20% increase in hair density compared to no change in the placebo group four weeks after completion of dosing. The treatment has seen a lot of enthusiasm on social media as it could potentially become the first new treatment for hair loss in decades. Pelage is having ongoing conversations with companies on plans to sell and market the treatment if it gets approved, CEO Daniel Gil said. (Reporting by Sriparna Roy and Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)