Kailera’s lead asset, KAI-9531, elicited an average weight loss of more than 17% in a Phase III study in China. The biotech expects to launch a global late-stage program for the drug this year.
In one of the biggest funding rounds so far this year, Kailera Therapeutics has brought in $600 million in series B proceeds to advance its pipeline of weight-loss therapies.
The company said on Tuesday that it will use this money to launch a global Phase III program for KAI-9531, an investigational dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist. Kailera has wrapped up end-of-Phase II meetings with the FDA and expects to start late-stage development by year-end, with three studies planned: one in adults with body mass index of at least 35 kg/m2, and two in those with overweight or obesity with comorbidities, with and without type 2 diabetes.
Kailera is currently studying KAI-9531 in China in collaboration with Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals. In July, the partners reported that the injectable obesity drug cut average weight by 17.7% versus placebo at 48 weeks across all three dose levels tested. Additionally, 88% of treated patients shed at least 5% of their body weight, while 44.4% achieved at least 20% weight loss.
KAI-9531 was originally discovered and developed by Jiangsu Hengrui, which licensed it out to Kailera when the biotech launched in October 2024 with $400 million in series A funding. Aside from KAI-9531, the Chinese pharma also licensed to Kailera KAI-7535, a GLP1 agonist, and KAI-4729, a GLP-1/GIP/glucagon triple agonist, both of which are also designed to treat obesity.
Kailera said Tuesday that its series B haul will also help fund the development of these two other assets, though the company did not provide a detailed timeline.
Kailera also plans to put some of its series B earnings behind an oral, once-daily formulation of KAI-9531.
Tuesday’s fundraising round was led by Bain Capital Private Equity and picked up new investors, including Royalty Pharma, Adage Capital Management and an undisclosed “large” mutual fund, according to the news release.
Obesity has been a fertile field for biopharma funding and dealmaking this year. Most recently, Pfizer last month acquired Metsera, one of the most promising emerging players in the field, for $4.9 billion. Making a similarly hefty investment is Roche, which in March fronted $1.65 billion—and promised up to $3.6 billion in various milestones—to partner with Zealand Pharma and gain access to its amylin analog petrelintide.
Meanwhile, in August, frontrunners Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk also placed big bucks on obesity, with a $1.3 billion deal with Superluminal Medicines and a $550 million partnership with Replicate Bioscience, respectively.
