Rare blood disorders biotech Hemab raises $135M, begins trek into clinic

21 Feb 2023
endpts.com
Drug ApprovalPhase 2
Hemab Therapeutics, led by Alnylam vet Benny Sorensen and chaired by John Maraganore, has raised $135 million from a new crop of investors as it begins pushing its blood disorder programs into the clinic. The raise gives Hemab’s a cash runway into 2025, and the biotech has a slate of goals it wants to check off before then, including having five clinical candidates by 2025. Maraganore said in an interview with Endpoints News that the biotech wants to be in Phase III trials by then as well. For now, however, the company has just gotten started with human trials. Hemab just began a Phase I/II trial of a bispecific antibody dubbed HMB-001, which it’s testing for Glanzmann thrombasthenia, a rare blood clotting disorder. In January, the biotech announced it had dosed its first patient with the drug. The trial is currently running in the UK, though Hemab said it plans on expanding that to the US and other European countries. Early data from the trial are expected later this year. The biotech is also working on a pre-clinical treatment for von Willebrand disease. For von Willebrand disease, Takeda’s enzyme replacement therapy Vonvendi was approved early last year. Vega Therapeutics, which like Hemab is backed by RA Capital, is also working on a treatment for the bleeding disorder and it hopes to start clinical trials this year. Importantly, Hemab is not working on hemophilia A or B, Sorensen emphasized during the joint interview, and is instead developing treatments for neglected bleeding disorders that currently have few or no approved options. Hemab said it hopes its Series B will bankroll the current study on HMB-001 and the start of a pivotal trial, as well as a Phase I/II trial for the von Willebrand disease therapy. Hemab’s Series B was led by Access Biotechnology, followed by Deep Track Capital, Avoro Capital, Invus, Rock Springs Capital and Danish fund Maj Invest Equity — all new investors. Investors from the biotech’s $55 million Series A — Novo Holdings, RA Capital Management, and HealthCap — also returned for the round. Hemab could have raised over $200 million, Maraganore said, but took the $135 million it needed to reach its 2025 goals. So what happens in 2025? “At that point in time, we can choose to go public or we can choose to raise another round privately, but at a higher valuation,” Maraganore said.
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