Slate Medicines will move forward with a migraine drug from a Chinese biotech, while Alveus Therapeutics will advance a dual GLP-1/GIPR fusion protein for weight loss.
Tuesday turned out to be a busy day for biotech, with migraine developer Slate Medicines and obesity player Alveus Therapeutics closing their respective series A rounds with more than $100 million in proceeds each.
With $130 million in fresh funds, Slate is forming its business around SLTE-1009, a monoclonal antibody licensed from Chinese company DartsBio Pharmaceuticals. The asset works by blocking PACAP—which stands for pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide—a short peptide found in the brain that plays a key regulatory role in processing, stress regulation and cognition.
PACAP has recently emerged as a molecular target for migraine, offering an alternative pathway to the typical CGRP-based approaches, according to Slate’s news release on Tuesday. This novel mechanism, the biotech continued, could benefit “patients underserved by current preventive therapies.”
SLTE-1009 is also designed to have a prolonged half-life, opening up subcutaneous dosing methods.
Slate’s fundraising round was co-led by RA Capital Management, Forbion and Foresite Capital. An unnamed biotech investor participated in the effort. Novartis alum Gregory Oakes, who was most recently a venture partner in RA Capital’s healthcare incubator, will serve as Slate’s CEO.
Also bringing in money on Tuesday was Alveus Therapeutics, which announced the second closing of its oversubscribed series A round, counting $197 million in total earnings. The push was led by New Rhein Healthcare Investors, Omega Funds and Andrea Partners, with participation from Novo Holdings, Sanofi Capital and other backers.
The capital infusion will allow Alveus to advance its bifunctional GIP receptor blocker and GLP-1 receptor agonist, which the biotech is proposing for the treatment of obesity. The asset, dubbed ALV-100, is designed to improve the quality of weight loss and help patients keep lost weight from returning, according to a Tuesday release.
Last month, the FDA signed off on a Phase 1b study of subcutaneous ALV-100, primarily meant to assess its safety and pharmacodynamics. The biotech expects to enter late-stage development next year, according to its website.
Alveus will also put the money behind ALV-200, its investigational selective amylin receptor agonist, as well as its oral amylin drug. The biotech expects to launch first-in-human trials for its amylin program in the next 18 months.
Alveus launched in January with $159.8 million in the initial run of its series A round.
