Memento’s lead asset is a bispecific antibody that blocks VEGF and activates Tie2. The biotech plans to test the candidate in retinal conditions such as neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema.
Memento Medicines has bagged $93 million in series A proceeds, which the Boston biotech plans to funnel toward a newly licensed asset for retinal disorders.
In conjunction with the funding round, Memento struck up an exclusive deal with MabTics and Curacle, paying unspecified cash and equity upfront to gain worldwide rights to the investigational antibody MMT-205, which will now serve as Memento’s lead program, according to a Thursday afternoon release. The series A money will help bankroll investigational new drug–enabling studies for the asset, which are expected to start next year.
MMT-205 is designed to block the VEGF pathway and activate the Tie2 receptor simultaneously. Memento believes this mechanism can improve upon current eye disease monotherapies by beefing up the integrity of blood vessels in the retina through the Tie2 pathway.
The biotech plans to study MMT-205 for retinal conditions, such as neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME), for which the asset “holds the potential to become a best-in-class biologic therapy,” CEO Naveen Daryani said in a prepared statement.
If clinical development pans out well for MMT-205, MabTics and Curacle could receive undisclosed R&D, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on net sales if the molecule reaches the market.
Memento’s funding round was co-led by Forbion, RA Capital Management and Avego BioScience Capital. Sanofi Ventures and Samsara BioCapital participated in the raise.
The VEGF pathway is involved in the formation of new blood vessels, making it a popular target for biopharma. Recently, for instance, VEGF has seen renewed excitement from the cancer space, with companies leveraging bispecific antibodies that simultaneously block the PD-(L)1 checkpoint cascade.
Many of the industry’s biggest companies have earmarked hefty sums for this approach, including Bristol Myers Squibb’s up to $11 billion bet with BioNTech and Pfizer’s potential $6 billion gamble with 3SBio.
VEGF is similarly central to eye diseases. Many of the market’s biggest therapies target the pathway, including Bayer and Regeneron’s Eylea, an intravitreal injection approved for nAMD, DME, diabetic retinopathy and macular edema following retinal vein occlusion (RVO). The drug—alongside its high-dose version, also by Regeneron and Bayer—made nearly $4.4 billion in the U.S. last year.
Roche also has an anti-VEGF therapy in Vabysmo, which is indicated for nAMD, DME and RVO. Since its first approval in 2022, Vabysmo has become a strong competitor for the Eylea franchise and last year brought in $3.5 billion in U.S. sales.
