Star And Portfolio Firm Electra Roll Out With Focus On Rare Immunologic Disease

A team that discovered and performed early development on Sanofi’s recently approved rare disease drug Enjaymo (sutimlimab) has launched Star Therapeutics and its first portfolio company, Electra Therapeutics, with a focus on first-in-class therapies that will target multiple diseases with unmet medical need. Star said on 16 February that it has raised about $100m in venture capital since its founding in 2018 and that Electra has raised an $84m series B financing to advance its lead candidate through clinical proof-of-concept.

Star Therapeutics, unlike other hub-and-spoke company models, such as BridgeBio Pharma, Inc., will build its portfolio companies around internally discovered candidates. But the Star leadership team got its start at True North Therapeutics, Inc., which discovered sutimlimab before being bought by Bioverativ Inc., which in turn was acquired by Sanofi in 2018. (Also see "Sanofi Builds Blood Disorder Specialty With Bioverativ Buy" - Scrip, 22 January, 2018