Voclosporin

Aiming to overhaul transplant care with a safer immunosuppressant, LifeMind Therapeutics raked in $263 million on Thursday to begin a mid-stage study of its lead asset, LIFE-001. The company's raise includes $75 million from a series D, as well as an oversubscribed $188-million series E led by Milky Way Investments and backed by new investors including Bezos Expeditions, Gates Frontier and RA Capital Management. The two financings bring LifeMind's total investor funding to $558 million since it debuted with a $55-million series A in 2017. The biotech went on to pocket $50 million in a 2021 B round, then clinched a $175-million series C in 2022. Backers from the previous fundraises, including Google Ventures, LoLa Capital Partners, GSK, Invus and ARCH Venture Partners, also participated in the latest round. "We were fortunate to attract an exceptional syndicate of new and existing investors, including Bezos Expeditions and Gates Frontier, who share our belief that transplantation is ready for meaningful innovation," LifeMine CEO Greg Verdine told FirstWord.Safety advantagesLIFE-001 was discovered with LifeMine's Avatar-Rx platform, which digitally analyses fungal DNA for biosynthetic gene clusters that contain the genetic code for specialised variants of targets that confer drug resistance. In addition to small molecule discovery, the platform is also capable of chemoinformatic-assisted drug optimisation.With its lead candidate, LifeMine is hoping to bring to market a mechanistically unique calcineurin activation inhibitor (CNai) that avoids damaging organs, a concern with existing calcineurin inhibitors (CNis) given to transplant patients today, such as cyclosporin, voclosporin and tacrolimus. According to Verdine, while CNis are highly effective at preventing transplant rejection, the legacy drugs can cause substantial toxicity to the kidneys, cardiovascular system, nervous system, gastrointestinal tract and pancreas. The reason why CNis are associated with such serious side effects may stem from their mechanism of action, Verdine said. Drugs in the class bind calcineurin in conjunction with accessory proteins called immunophilins to form a complex that then inhibits calcineurin. "While that approach has been highly effective at preventing organ rejection, it's also believed to contribute to many of the toxicities associated with these therapies since the accessory proteins draw the drug into peripheral tissues and there drive on-target, off-tissue toxicity," Verdine explained. "We designed LIFE-001 to directly inhibit calcineurin activation without relying on accessory immunophilin proteins to address those longstanding limitations while preserving the proven efficacy of calcineurin inhibition."And so far, the company has been encouraged by the safety data generated by LIFE-001. In an ongoing Phase I study, more than 100 adults have been dosed with the experimental treatment, and no clinically meaningful renal, metabolic or cardiovascular safety signals have been seen, suggesting a substantially improved safety profile compared with existing CNis. With the series D and E funds, LifeMind plans to launch a Phase II kidney transplant study of LIFE-001, as well as a Phase Ib trial in patients with type 1 diabetes receiving islet cell transplants. Both are slated to launch in early 2027. The goal of the earlier-stage study, Verdine said, is to see if LIFE-001 can replace tacrolimus in the immunosuppressant regimen given to patients with diabetes receiving a transplant. "This will give us an early indication of the ability of LIFE-001 to preserve islet cell graft and function, which is often challenging with tacrolimus," he added. New addition to managementAlongside the financing, LifeMine announced that Yves Zinggeler has been appointed chief commercial officer. He previously served as vice president and general manager of Vertex Pharmaceuticals' US Cystic Fibrosis Business Unit.

iStock, Ja_inter Patients who receive an organ transplant must take difficult immuno-suppressive medicines for the rest of their lives. LifeMine Therapeutics wants to offer a safer alternative. Organ transplant biotech LifeMine Therapeutics has executed a combined $263 million fundraising, opting for two late-stage venture capital rounds rather than heading for the public market like many peers in the industry. LifeMine will use the funds to support the clinical program for LIFE-001, which is under development to prevent organ failure. The fundraising announced Thursday combines a $75 million series D and an oversubscribed $188 million series F. This was a deliberate choice, according to CEO Greg Verdine, who acknowledged the rising IPO markets for biotechs. “The market has certainly improved compared to where it was, which is encouraging for the industry,” Verdine told BioSpace in an emailed comment . “That said, we’ve always believed the right time to access the public markets is when it aligns with the company’s stage of development and long-term strategy, not simply because the window is open.” ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(129); }); For now, the fundraising allows LifeMine to move forward with its pipeline. “This financing allows us to stay focused on execution and reaching the next set of meaningful clinical milestones,” Verdine said. “We’ll evaluate the public markets when we believe it’s the right strategic step for the company.” LifeMine uses digital genomic search technology from fungi to source next-generation precision medicines, according to the release. This work led to LIFE-001, a calcineurin activation inhibitor (CNai) that is administered via injection to prevent organ damage that can occur with common anti-rejection immunosuppressive treatments like cyclosporin, voclosporin and tacrolimus. GSK-Backed LifeMine Nets $175M and More Financing News Read on to learn more about three Series B and C financing rounds in the areas of genetically encoded small molecules, artificial intelligence (AI) and immuno-oncology (IO). March 23, 2022 · 3 min read · Mark Terry Read more Patients who receive a life-saving organ transplant must take immune-suppressive medicines for the rest of their lives. While the drugs can prevent damage to the transplanted organ, they can also weaken others in the body such as the kidneys. “Calcineurin inhibition remains the gold standard for preventing organ rejection, but today’s therapies come with substantial toxicities that can compromise long-term patient outcomes because transplant recipients typically remain on these medicines for life,” said Andrew Cameron, surgeon-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, in a statement provided by LifeMine. LifeMine is hoping to lessen this post-treatment burden with long-acting LIFE-001. Early data from the ongoing Phase 1 trial has already shown an improved pro compared to legacy anti-transplant medicines in 120 adults. There have been no clinically meaningful renal, metabolic or cardiovascular safety signals observed to date, the company said. “A next-generation calcineurin activation inhibitor capable of maintaining efficacy while significantly reducing multiorgan toxicity would represent one of the most meaningful advances in transplantation in decades,” Cameron said. Beyond the Phase 1 study for the prevention of organ transplantation, the biotech plans to advance the asset into Phase 2 for kidney transplant and Phase 1b for islet cell transplant in early 2027. The series E fundraising was led by Milky Way Investments, with new investors including Bezos Expeditions, Gates Frontier and RA Capital Management and existing investors GSK, ARCH Venture Partners and others participating. LifeMine has also picked up a chief commercial officer, nabbing Yves Zinggeler from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he served as VP and general manager of the U.S. cystic fibrosis business unit. .responsive-container { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; border: 1px solid #ededed; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Sans-Serif; padding: 20px 20px 10px 20px; } .column-left { flex: 1; max-width: 45%; padding: 20px 20px 10px 20px; } .column-right { flex: 2; padding: 20px 20px 10px 20px; } @media (max-width: 768px) { .column-left, .column-right { max-width: 100%; flex: 100%; padding: 10px 0; } } Subscribe to BioPharm Executive! Market insights, trending business and policy stories for biopharma leaders hbspt.forms.create({ region: "na1", portalId: "4413123", formId: "7c139b3c-ff0b-44e0-bffe-f449801dca59", onFormSubmitted: function($form, data) { window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; window.dataLayer.push({ 'event': 'GTMevent', 'event_name': 'newsletter_sign_up' }); } });