The financing was co-led by RTW Investments and Perceptive Advisors (Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund and Perceptive Life Sciences Fund), and joined by additional new investors, including Osage University Partners and PBM Capital.
“I am delighted to announce the closing of a $60 million Series B financing,” said Dr. Josep Bassaganya-Riera, Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO of Landos. “This financing is an important part of our strategy to advance lead product BT-11 into global Phase 2 clinical trials for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. There is an unmet clinical need for new therapies for complex diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease. We are pleased that our investors share Landos’ mission of accelerating drug development and serving the unmet needs of millions of patients living with these widespread and debilitating conditions.”
This financing will support Landos’ Phase 2 global clinical trials for BT-11 in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. BT-11 is a first-in-class, oral, gut-restricted small molecule therapeutic with a unique mechanism of action that targets a novel pathway called Lanthionine Synthetase C-Like 2 (LANCL2). Results from Landos’ Phase 1 clinical trial (published in May 2019 in the IBD Journal) demonstrated that the compound was well-tolerated. Fecal calprotectin levels, which we believe is a predictive biomarker of response to treatment in IBD, were lower in all BT-11-treated groups when compared to placebo. We believe this activity provides initial biomarker evidence of response to treatment.
“We believe BT-11’s mechanism of action is differentiated with the potential to transform the current treatment paradigm for patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease,” said Rod Wong, M.D., managing partner at RTW Investments and new member of the Landos Board of Directors. “RTW is excited to support Landos as it continues its growth trajectory as a business and advances the science driving BT-11.”
“We believe there is tremendous commercial potential for an oral compound for IBD and BT-11 is the most promising candidate we’ve seen at this stage of development,” commented Chris Garabedian, Portfolio Manager, Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund. “As an investor in the Series A, we are impressed with the productivity and efficiency of the Landos team in completing a comprehensive preclinical program, securing two open INDs, and successfully generating Phase 1 clinical results in less than two years, and are prepared to move forward with two global Phase 2 studies in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.” Chris Garabedian will continue to serve on Landos Biopharma’s Board of Directors and will be joined by Konstantin Poukalov of Perceptive Advisors.
Landos Biopharma, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of first-in-class oral therapeutics for patients with autoimmune diseases. Landos’ lead clinical asset, BT-11, is a first-in-class, oral therapeutic that acts locally in the gastrointestinal tract for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The company has completed Phase 1 clinical testing and has initiated Phase 2 clinical testing of BT-11 for inflammatory bowel disease in 2019. Landos also has a robust pipeline of new compounds for other autoimmune diseases, several of which Landos anticipates will advance to IND and Phase 1 clinical testing in 2020. Landos is headquartered in Blacksburg, VA.
Source: Company Press Release