Finance Watch: Clinical-Stage Autoimmune Start-Ups Garner Big Investments

With rising interest in inflammation and immunology – likely in response to large deals in the I&I space as much as unmet needs in autoimmune diseases – venture capital investors have put big money into start-ups with drug candidates for indications such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis and atopic dermatitis, including Attovia Therapeutics, which revealed a $105m series B round on 9 May.

Also, Royalty Pharma plc placed a big bet on privately held ImmuNext, Inc.’s frexalimab, an anti-CD40 ligand antibody that Sanofi has in three Phase III clinical trials for MS and in Phase II trials for type 1 diabetes and SLE. (Also see "Sanofi Moves Up In MS With Frexalimab Success" - Scrip, 31 May, 2023.) Royalty Pharma said on 9 May that it will pay $575m to purchase the royalty stream that ImmuNext is expected to earn from Sanofi’s commercialization of frexalimab