It’s GlycoEra’s time to shine. The Swiss biotech has closed a series B fundraise clocking in at $130 million, with the funds set to support clinical trials for the company’s lead autoimmune protein degrader later this year.
The oversubscribed round was led by new investor Novo Holdings with participation from existing investors Sofinnova Partners, 5AM Ventures, Roche Ventures, Bristol Myers Squibb and others, GlycoEra announced in a May 27 release.
The cash will primarily go toward initiating clinical trials for GE8820, a bispecific molecule designed to destroy IgG4 autoantibodies. IgG4s are antibodies that can cause numerous autoimmune diseases when they go rogue and begin targeting the patient’s own body, such as pemphigus, muscle-specific kinase myasthenia gravis, primary membranous nephropathy and autoimmune encephalitis, according to the company.
“Our lead program, which has demonstrated deep and rapid IgG4 degradation preclinically, presents an opportunity to deliver transformative therapies to patients suffering from multiple autoimmune diseases,” GlycoEra President and CEO Ganesh Kaundinya, Ph.D., said in the release.
GlycoEra also plans to use the new cash to bring a second program into the clinic and further develop the biotech’s pipeline of extracellular degraders in immunology and other indications.
The Massachusetts- and Switzerland-based company has four programs in development for undisclosed indications, according to its website.
GlycoEra was spun out of LimmaTech in late 2020, which was itself spun out of specialist vaccine company GlycoVaxyn after it was acquired by GSK in February 2015. GlycoEra raised a $49 million series A at the time of its launch, with GlycoVaxyn and LimmaTech partaking in the round.
The biotech's approach is to use degraders that bind to disease-causing proteins, like IgG4, that are circulating in the body outside of cells. GlycoEra’s molecules are built to haul offending proteins off to the liver, where they are absorbed into hepatocytes by glycan receptors and digested.