Patients who receive an organ transplant must take difficult immuno-suppressive medicines for the rest of their lives. LifeMine Therapeutics wants to offer a safer alternative.
Organ transplant biotech LifeMine Therapeutics has executed a combined $263 million fundraising, opting for two late-stage venture capital rounds rather than heading for the public market like many peers in the industry.
LifeMine will use the funds to support the clinical program for LIFE-001, which is under development to prevent organ failure. The fundraising announced Thursday combines a $75 million series D and an oversubscribed $188 million series F. This was a deliberate choice, according to CEO Greg Verdine, who acknowledged the rising IPO markets for biotechs.
“The market has certainly improved compared to where it was, which is encouraging for the industry,” Verdine told BioSpace in an emailed comment. “That said, we’ve always believed the right time to access the public markets is when it aligns with the company’s stage of development and long-term strategy, not simply because the window is open.”
For now, the fundraising allows LifeMine to move forward with its pipeline. “This financing allows us to stay focused on execution and reaching the next set of meaningful clinical milestones,” Verdine said. “We’ll evaluate the public markets when we believe it’s the right strategic step for the company.”
LifeMine uses digital genomic search technology from fungi to source next-generation precision medicines, according to the release. This work led to LIFE-001, a calcineurin activation inhibitor (CNai) that is administered via injection to prevent organ damage that can occur with common anti-rejection immunosuppressive treatments like cyclosporin, voclosporin and tacrolimus.
Patients who receive a life-saving organ transplant must take immune-suppressive medicines for the rest of their lives. While the drugs can prevent damage to the transplanted organ, they can also weaken others in the body such as the kidneys.
“Calcineurin inhibition remains the gold standard for preventing organ rejection, but today’s therapies come with substantial toxicities that can compromise long-term patient outcomes because transplant recipients typically remain on these medicines for life,” said Andrew Cameron, surgeon-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, in a statement provided by LifeMine.
LifeMine is hoping to lessen this post-treatment burden with long-acting LIFE-001. Early data from the ongoing Phase 1 trial has already shown an improved profile as compared to legacy anti-transplant medicines in 120 adults. There have been no clinically meaningful renal, metabolic or cardiovascular safety signals observed to date, the company said.
“A next-generation calcineurin activation inhibitor capable of maintaining efficacy while significantly reducing multiorgan toxicity would represent one of the most meaningful advances in transplantation in decades,” Cameron said.
Beyond the Phase 1 study for the prevention of organ transplantation, the biotech plans to advance the asset into Phase 2 for kidney transplant and Phase 1b for islet cell transplant in early 2027.
The series E fundraising was led by Milky Way Investments, with new investors including Bezos Expeditions, Gates Frontier and RA Capital Management and existing investors GSK, ARCH Venture Partners and others participating.
LifeMine has also picked up a chief commercial officer, nabbing Yves Zinggeler from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he served as VP and general manager of the U.S. cystic fibrosis business unit.
