Startup gets funding for drug that tackles overeating – San Diego Union-Tribune

Local biopharmaceutical startup, Aardvark Therapeutics landed $85 million in financing to support its lead drug that tackles overeating and obesity.

Aardvark Therapeutics will use the money to advance a treatment for excessive eating associated with Prader–Willi syndrome, a rare genetic condition, through clinical trials. Additionally, Aardvark seeks to show that this drug works in tandem with current GLP-1 therapies on the market — like Ozempic and Wegovy — to treat obesity.

The company also will use the funding to advance its pipeline of treatments for other conditions such as overactive bladder, autism and inflammatory skin disorder.

The La Jolla-based company is gearing up for an initial public offering as early as this summer that could raise up to $200 million, according to a March 29 report from the Financial Times.

The company’s latest financing was led by Decheng Capital, a Northern California firm that invests in early stage life science companies.

Allez Health raises $60 million

Local health technology company Allez Health raised $60 million last month for its continuous glucose monitoring biosensor.

Founded in 2018, and previously known as Zense-Life Inc. the company has 25 employees and is headquartered in Carlsbad. It is also helmed by three alums of Dexcom, the San Diego public company that has been a leader in developing and manufacturing continuous glucose monitors for more than two decades.

The company’s tiny biosensor — which is not currently FDA-approved — connects to a smartphone to offer users a plethora of health data, including blood sugar levels. The recent funding will help Allez move its products through clinical trials, regulatory applications and scaling its manufacturing operations.

The Series A financing round was led by Osang Healthcare Co., Ltd., a Korean in-vitro diagnostics company.

Gossamer Bio inks partnership deal worth up to $486 million

San Diego-based Gossamer Bio has partnered with Italian pharmaceutical company, Chiesi Farmaceutici in a global collaboration and license agreement worth up to $486 million.

The joint effort seeks to commercialize Gossamer’s lead drug, seralutinib — a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). It’s a rare, progressive lung disease that causes high blood pressure in the lungs.

In addition to advancing seralutinib for pulmonary arterial hypertension applications, the companies want “to accelerate development in pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD)” to reach more patients globally.

While there are a number of treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension, the company said none tackle the progressive nature of the disease. Treatment options for pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease are scarce with only one approved therapy in the United States and none currently approved outside of the U.S.

Gossamer will be paid $160 million by Chisei as a development reimbursement. Then, Gossamer could receive up to $146 million in regulatory milestones and $180 million in sales milestones.

Ionis and Biogen scrap development of ALS drug

Carlsbad-based Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Biogen announced last month that they were terminating the development of an ALS drug.

Patients diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, progressively experience weakened muscles that negatively affect their physical functions.

The Biogen and Ionis treatment for ALS was designed to reduce the expression of a particular protein and proved successful in the initial study. However, early results from a 99-person study over six months did not show the promising results of slowing the disease they hoped to achieve.

Despite the end of this drug partnership with Biogen, Ionis continues its own work on a different treatment for ALS, called Ulefnersen, a phase-3 investigational medicine.

Originally Published: June 12, 2024 at 1:00 PM PST