Avalon/GSK Incubation Project Launches First Company, Focused On Celiac Disease

The Avalon Ventures/GlaxoSmithKline PLC joint venture announced this past spring to found single-drug-candidate start-ups hatched its first company Nov. 22. The two staked Sitari Pharmaceuticals, which will focus on developing a drug therapy for celiac disease based on research at Stanford University, to a $10 million Series A financing.

Using intellectual property licensed from the Stanford lab of Chaitan Kholsa, Sitari will attempt to address celiac, an autoimmune digestive disease caused by intolerance to gluten, by inhibiting the transglutaminase 2 (TG2) pathway. There is no approved drug therapy for celiac, which patients manage primarily through diet