December 4, 2014
By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Allena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it has raised $25 million in a Series B funding round. As a result, the company will be able to advance ALLN-177, its lead product for the treatment of hyperoxaluria.
The financing round was led by HBM Partners, Frazier Healthcare, Third Rock Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Pharmstandard International. Axel Bolte, investment advisor at HBM Partners, announced that he will also be joining the company’s board of directors.
“Allena has made tremendous progress in moving forward with developing a potential treatment for hyperoxaluria, a serious metabolic disease that has currently no effective pharmacologic treatments and can lead to serious kidney related complications like nephrocalcinosis, oxalate nephropathy, kidney stones and kidney transplant,” said Bolte. “Allena has established itself as a leader in the treatment of hyperoxaluria and other metabolic diseases, and I look forward to working with the company to bring forward this treatment for the many patients in need.”
ALLN-177 is being used as a novel treatment for secondary hyperoxaluria. The drug is an orally administered, highly active recombinant oxalate-degrading enzyme. It targets oxalate in the gastrointestinal tract, which reduces both dietary and endogenously produced oxalate. ALLN-177 is the first pharmacologic treatment to produce a significant reduction in urinary oxalate excretion.
“We have made tremendous progress since our Series A financing, with the completion of a Phase 1 clinical trial, significant patent work to protect our intellectual property and improvements in manufacturing capabilities, all of which resulted in the initiation of a groundbreaking Phase 2 program,” said Robert Gallotto, chief operating officer of Allena. “Hyperoxaluria is a serious unmet need, and we believe ALLN-177 may provide the first safe and effective pharmacological option for patients.”
To date, Allena has raised $43 million in private financing. As a result of positive Phase 1 data, Allena recently began a Phase 2 trial of ALLN-177 in patients with hyperoxaluria. The Phase 2 trials are set to begin in early 2015.
Hyperoxaluria is a metabolic disease that results from high oxalate levels in the urine. This can either be caused by hyper-absorption of oxalate as a result of diet, or overproduction of oxalate in the liver due to a hereditary enzyme deficiency. It can lead to chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease or dialysis.
