AltruBio raises $225 million to develop ulcerative colitis drug
Checkpoint inhibitors, drugs that unleash the immune system, have turned into blockbuster therapies that have transformed outcomes for some patients with deadly cancers. AltruBio, a Bay Area biotech, is betting it can help patients suffering from autoimmune and inflammatory diseases by taking the opposite tack: pumping the brakes on runaway immune responses.
The company on Tuesday announced that it has raised $225 million in a Series B venture round led by BVP Partners, with the biotech’s backers also including RA Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, and Soleus Capital. AltruBio plans to put that money toward advancing a drug that is already being tested in a mid-stage trial for ulcerative colitis, an increasingly competitive market in which a number of pharma companies have launched drugs.
It’s the latest example of intense investor interest in immunology-focused companies. Firms such as Paragon Therapeutics and Prometheus Laboratories have recently been at the center of financing mega-rounds, and Blackstone Life Sciences recently committed up to $300 million to launch Uniquity Bio, a company developing treatments for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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