Sudo Biosciences Raises $116M Series B Financing to Advance TYK2 Therapeutics Programs Into the Clinic
Sudo Biosciences raised $116 million Series B financing to advance two investigational TYK2 candidates into the clinic in 2024.
Sudo is developing a potential first-in-class topical TYK2 inhibitor for psoriasis and other immune-mediated dermatologic diseases. In addition, Sudo’s CNS program is developing a first and best-in-class brain-penetrant TYK2 inhibitor that has the potential to advance the treatment of both the relapsing and progressive forms of multiple sclerosis as well as neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The funding round was co-led by Enavate Sciences and TPG, which is investing in the company through TPG Life Sciences Innovations and The Rise Fund, with participation from Sanofi Ventures, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Monograph Capital, and Eventide Asset Management as well as existing investors Frazier Life Sciences and Velosity Capital.
The Company has raised a total of $157 million funding since its founding in 2020.
“We are thankful for the support of our premier life science investors, which will allow us to advance our two development candidates into the clinic,” says Scott Byrd, CEO of Sudo Biosciences in a news release. “With this financing, we are well positioned to progress our pipeline of next generation TYK2 inhibitors and pursue our mission of improving care for the millions of people living with multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and other severe autoimmune and neurologic conditions.”
Tim Raducha-Grace Named Chief Platform Officer at Zerigo Health
Tim Raducha-Grace is the new Chief Platform Officer at Zerigo Health, a connected phototherapy platform that couples a handheld Narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) light device with a smartphone app and team of care providers to allow patients to treat psoriasis and eczema at home.
Mr. Raducha-Grace recently served as Head of Clinical Partnerships at Harbor Health. Before Harbor Health, he led product and go-to-market functions for CVS’s kidney care and home business units.
Aclaris Therapeutics Slashes Workforce
Aclaris is reducing its workforce by 46%, starting now, according to media reports.
CEO Douglas Manion, MD, said the decision was due to the failure of the investigational lead oral small molecule MK2 inhibitor, zunsemetinib (ATI-450), to match placebo on any primary or secondary endpoints in a phase 2 rheumatoid arthritis trial. The Company plans to explore the use of zunsemetinib in pancreatic cancer and metastatic breast cancer as well as in preventing bone loss in patients with metastatic breast cancer.
“With the discontinuation of development of ATI-450 for immuno-inflammatory disease indications, we are taking steps to reduce our spending and streamline our organization which we expect to meaningfully preserve capital,” Manlon says in a news release.
The company is also conducting a 250-patient phase 2b trial of its topical JAK 1/3 inhibitor, called ATI-1777 in atopic dermatitis. In the Phase 2a study, ATI-1777 demonstrated meaningful improvement in the modified Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) over 4 weeks of treatment and minimal measurable systemic exposure with a 2% formulation applied twice daily.
Based on these results, Aclaris progressed ATI-1777 into a Phase 2b trial in patients with mild to severe AD. The Phase 2b vehicle-controlled trial will explore the concentration range (0.5%, 1%, and 2%) of ATI-1777, as well as a once-daily regimen using the 2% formulation. The trial enrolled 250 patients, including adults and children as young as 12 years old, across 34 clinical trial sites in the United States. The primary efficacy endpoint is the percent change in EASI over 4 weeks. Secondary measures of efficacy, as well as safety and pharmacokinetics, will also be assessed. Aclaris expects to report top-line results from this trial in January 2024.
They are also developing ATI-2138, an oral covalent ITK/JAK3 inhibitor, in ulcerative colitis with further indications set to follow.
Meet Inhibitor Therapeutics’ New Scientific Board
Inhibitor Therapeutics, Inc. is developing and commercializing the use of Itraconazole to treat basal cell carcinomas in Basal Cell Carcinoma Nevus Syndrome (BCCNS) or Gorlin Syndrome.
The company has recruited a Scientific Advisory Board to review the outcomes of Inhibitor’s Phase 2b SCORING Trial. The review will focus on whether the SCORING trial is sufficiently clinically meaningful to warrant filing itraconazole for a New Drug Application as the first and only drug to be approved to treat BCCNS.
Inhibitor Therapeutics’ scientific advisory board members include:
Elizabeth M. Billingsley, MD., Head of the SAB, Is a Professor of Dermatology with Penn State Health Hershey Medical Center, and Penn State College of Medicine.
Allison Vidimos, RPh, MD, was appointed Chairman of the Department of Dermatology at Cleveland Clinic in 2005 and Vice Chairman of the Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute in 2006. She was appointed Professor of Dermatology, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University in 2011.
Sean R. Christensen, MD, PhD. is an Associate Professor of Dermatology; Director of Resident Education in Dermatologic Surgery; and Director of Dermatologic Surgery at Yale Dermatology-Branford.
Ian Maher, MD. is a Professor of Dermatology and Director of Dermatologic Surgery at the University of Minnesota.
