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A biotechnology company in Chapel Hill has surpassed $400 million with its latest funding round as the firm advances its treatment for asthma.
Areteia Therapeutics launched in 2022 with a late-stage drug called dexpramipexole and $350 million in capital. The company announced Tuesday that it has added $75 million to this round.
The additional capital will support the expansion of the company's ongoing Phase 3 developmental program, which includes pursuing clinical development in Japan and several other global markets. The funding will also support the expansion of manufacturing activities and additional life-cycle management, including the development of a once daily formulation of the company's lead drug candidate.
New investors Viking Global Investors and Marshall Wace joined Areteia's original group of investors. Bain Capital Life Sciences led the company's initial raise, with participation from Access Biotechnology, GV, ARCH Venture Partners, Saturn Partners, Sanofi (Nasdaq: SNY), Maverick Capital and Population Health Partners.
"We are delighted that leading biotech investors like Viking Global Investors and Marshall Wace have joined the syndicate," said Areteia CEO Jorge Bartolome. "Their investment in Areteia further deepens our already strong capitalization position. We are pleased with the strong demand in this investment expansion round as our Phase 3 program in eosinophilic asthma continues to make excellent progress."
Bartolome is a former Triangle-based GSK (NYSE: GSK) executive with experience in respiratory therapeutics. He also previously held a senior position at Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) before returning to the Triangle in 2022 to form Areteia. It marked a return for Bartolome, who grew up in Durham and graduated from Duke University.
In a conversation last year with Triangle Business Journal, Bartolome said that Areteia's lead drug candidate has the potential to be the first oral therapy to treat patients with severe asthma that remains uncontrolled. This is a $10 billion market that's currently dominated by injectable biologics.
"We’re also in the unique position that there are no other oral products in late-stage development," Bartolome said at the time. "We don’t have anybody nipping at our heels."
Areteia in early 2023 began dosing patients in multiple clinical studies evaluating dexpramipexole. In total, the company is planning three Phase 3 studies involving more than 3,000 patients.
