Latest news with #GlycoEra
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GlycoEra secures $130m to progress IgG4-targeted protein degrader
Biotechnology company GlycoEra has closed an oversubscribed Series B financing round, raising $130m, to support the progression of its lead immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-targeted protein degrader through clinical proof-of-concept. The investment will help in developing the company's pipeline of precision extracellular degraders for immunology and other indications. Spearheaded by Novo Holdings, the financing round also saw contributions from new investors, including Catalio Capital Management, QIA and LifeArc Ventures. Current investors Sofinnova Partners, Roche Ventures, Bristol Myers Squibb, and 5AM Ventures also participated in the round. Joining the syndicate were Sixty Degree Capital, Agent Capital, and MP Healthcare Venture Management, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma's subsidiary. GlycoEra noted that its platform is capable of targeting a wide range of extracellular proteins, and the company's bispecific degraders utilise a natural process to degrade proteins, offering a sustained removal of disease-causing proteins rapidly while eliminating systemic off-target effects. This method is said to contrast with traditional approaches, as the production of the company's degraders takes place via a single-step recombinant process, providing scalability and modularity. The company's lead programme, GE8820, aims to degrade pathogenic IgG4 autoantibodies selectively, without causing immunosuppression. GlycoEra CEO and president Ganesh Kaundinya said: 'Our lead programme, which has demonstrated deep and rapid IgG4 degradation preclinically, presents an opportunity to deliver transformative therapies to patients suffering from multiple autoimmune diseases. With this financing, we plan to initiate first-in-human clinical trials for our lead programme later this year. 'This financing is a strong validation of our science and platform, allowing us to accelerate our lead program into clinical development while advancing our robust pipeline of precision immunology medicines.' Furthermore, the company has added three new members to its board of directors: Max Klement, Matthew Hobson, Catalio Capital Management principal, and LifeArc Ventures partner Sohaib Mir, Partner. GlycoEra is based in Switzerland and operates additional offices and labs in the US. "GlycoEra secures $130m to progress IgG4-targeted protein degrader " was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GlycoEra raises $130M, riding interest in protein degraders
This story was originally published on BioPharma Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily BioPharma Dive newsletter. A biotechnology startup developing drugs designed to eliminate troublesome proteins found outside of cells has raised $130 million to start its first clinical trial. The startup, GlycoEra, will use the Series B funds to generate initial clinical data for its lead program, an immune disease treatment dubbed GE8820. It intends to bring a second immune drug into human testing as well. GlycoEra views GE8820 as having the type of broad potential that could make it a 'pipeline in a product,' said company president and CEO Ganesh Kaundinya. The drug targets IgG4, a circulating antibody that can be protective against allergies, but malfunctions and attacks the body's own tissues in many autoimmune conditions, among them the skin disorder pemphigus and the kidney condition primary membranous nephropathy. GE8820 is a dual-acting drug that coaxes the body into destroying this defective IgG4. One part of the molecule binds to the antibody and drags it to the liver. The other part then latches onto a receptor that absorbs IgG4 into cells, where it's trashed by an internal protein-disposal system. According to GlycoEra, preclinical testing has shown the approach can remove malfunctioning IgG4 antibodies with the type of precision not seen with other approaches. By doing so, GE8820 may avoid the broadly immunosuppressive effects of other autoimmune medicines. It may also ease the 'burden on the healthcare system,' Kaundinya said. Patients typically 'get treated, they get better, they are fine, and then they come back to that relapse,' Kaundinya said. 'Our approach not only enables the patients to live better lives, it also overall contributes to better healthcare economics across the board.' GlycoEra has publicly disclosed three other programs behind GE8820, but hasn't specified which diseases they're targeting. The company could submit a request to begin trials for its second drug in 2026, according to its website. Novo Holdings led GlycoEra's Series B round, which involved the venture arms of Roche and Bristol Myers Squibb, Sofinnova Partners and several other firms. 'What really stood out with GlycoEra is that you had a use case here where, in autoimmune disease, there's limited competition, a high amount of medical need and the biological rationale is really strong,' said Novo Holdings partner Max Klement. 'As we see the autoimmune disease space evolve, precision medicine makers such as GlycoEra are going to come to the forefront.' GlycoEra is named after glycosylation, the process by which sugar chains are attached to proteins. The company is headquartered in Wädenswil, Switzerland and has a U.S. footprint in Newton, Massachusetts. It was spun out of Swiss biotech LimmaTech Biologics in January 2021, and raised approximately $49 million in Series A funding that November. The company's latest round is further evidence of continued interest in so-called protein degraders, which offer a way of getting to proteins traditional drugmaking methods can't reach. Research into protein degradation has taken off since the turn of the century, yielding an array of companies using different methods to destroy harmful proteins. Many of these companies are focused on protein targets inside of cells. GlycoEra is among those zeroing in on so-called extracellular proteins outside of cells or on their membranes. Fellow startups EpiBiologics and Lycia Therapeutics are as well. Sign in to access your portfolio
