Taste 2 receptors

▎药明康德内容团队编辑 据创鉴汇不完全统计，上周（2月10日至2月16日）全球大健康领域共披露融资事件35起，总额超69亿元。按照金额划分，亿元及以上融资11起。按照已披露的融资轮次划分，早期融资（B轮以前）15起，中后期融资（B轮及以后）15起。生物医药领域共11家公司获融资，涉及药物类型包含创新小分子、双特异性抗体、干细胞疗法等。 #01 Abcuro完成2亿美元C轮融资 关键词：免疫调节抗体疗法 最新融资：2亿美元C轮 本轮投资机构：Abrdn、Eurofarma Ventures、Foresite Capital、Mass General Brigham Ventures等 2月13日消息，Abcuro宣布完成总额达2亿美元的C轮融资。本次C轮融资所得资金将用于完成注册性2/3期MUSCLE临床试验，该试验旨在评估该公司的潜在“first-in-class”、杀伤细胞凝集素样受体G1（KLRG1）靶向单抗ulviprubart（ABC008），用于治疗包涵体肌炎（IBM）的疗效与安全性。若MUSCLE临床试验结果积极，Abcuro计划提交生物制品许可申请（BLA），并将部分资金用于支持商业化上市的筹备工作。美国FDA和欧洲药品管理局（EMA）均已授予ulviprubart孤儿药资格，用于治疗IBM。 #02 Aardvark Therapeutics登陆纳斯达克 关键词：小分子药物 最新融资：约9420万美元IPO 2月12日，Aardvark Therapeutics宣布了其普通股的首次公开发行定价。Aardvark是一家临床阶段的生物制药公司，专注于开发新型小分子疗法，激活先天稳态途径以治疗代谢疾病。Aardvark的主要候选产品ARD-101靶向肠腔中表达的苦味受体 （TAS2R），诱导分泌内源性信号分子，包括饱腹感激素胆囊收缩素（CCK），进而激活肠脑信号以抑制饥饿感。这种潜在的“First-in-class”口服研究药物在2期试验中表现出临床活性和良好的耐受性，并已进入与Prader-Willi综合征相关的食欲亢进的3期临床开发，已被授予孤儿药资格。 #03 Newleos Therapeutics完成9350万美元融资 关键词：中枢神经系统疾病药物 最新融资：9350万美元A轮 2月13日消息，Newleos Therapeutics宣布完成9350万美元A轮融资。目前，公司项目涵盖多种口服小分子，靶向广泛性焦虑、社交焦虑、物质使用障碍和认知障碍的新机制。Newleos Therapeutics的主导临床项目NTX-1955（RO7308480）是潜在“first-in-class”的GABA A-γ1选择性阳性变构调节剂（PAM），治疗焦虑症。NTX-1955通过靶向含有γ1（γ-1）亚基的GABA A受体来特异性调节焦虑脑回路中的GABA能传递，该受体在杏仁核中高度丰富。NTX-1955已进入1期试验，包括单剂量和多剂量递增研究、药物相互作用和受体占有率研究，证明其安全、耐受性好、脑渗透性强，对GABAA-γ1具有选择性。Newleos计划在概念验证临床研究中研究NTX-1955治疗广泛性焦虑症。 #04 Bambusa Therapeutics完成9000万美元A轮融资 关键词：双抗药物 最新融资：9000万美元A轮 本轮投资机构：ADAR1 Capital Management、Invus、Janus Henderson Investors、RA Capital Management、Redmile Group 2月14日消息，Bambusa Therapeutics宣布完成9000万美元A轮融资，将用于支持先导项目的1期临床试验，并进一步推动其管线的开发。Bambusa建立了强大的长效双特异性抗体管道，其中BBT001针对皮肤病，BBT002可应用于呼吸、皮肤病和胃肠病适应症。Bambusa的其他开发候选药物BBT003和BB004在炎症性肠病和风湿病适应症方面也具有治疗潜力。 #05 吉美瑞生完成数千万元B+轮融资 关键词：干细胞治疗药物 最新融资：数千万元B+轮 本轮投资机构：冷杉溪资本 2月10日消息，吉美瑞生近期完成数千万元B+轮融资，将用于公司旗下相关干细胞产品的临床研发和申报。吉美瑞生成立于2015年，专注于干细胞的人体器官再生医学领域，通过开发创新的细胞与基因治疗产品，实现人体组织器官的修复、再生和增强。公司自主研发的肺部再生医学创新产品REGEND001已相继完成两项2期临床研究，分别针对慢性阻塞性肺病（COPD）和特发性肺纤维化（IPF）。 读者们请星标⭐创鉴汇，第一时间收到推送 免责声明：药明康德内容团队专注介绍全球生物医药健康研究进展。本文仅作信息交流之目的，文中观点不代表药明康德立场，亦不代表药明康德支持或反对文中观点。本文也不是治疗方案推荐。如需获得治疗方案指导，请前往正规医院就诊。 版权说明：本文由药明康德内容团队根据公开资料整理编辑，欢迎个人转发至朋友圈，谢绝媒体或机构未经授权以任何形式转发/复制至其他平台。转发授权请在「创鉴汇」微信公众号留言联系我们。 更多数据内容推荐 点击“在看”，分享创鉴汇健康新动态

Aardvark Therapeutics, a biotech looking to address hunger rather than appetite for metabolic diseases, will go public on Thursday with a $94 million debut on the Nasdaq. The San Diego-based biotech joins fellow obesity drug developer Metsera in going public this year, as well as cystic fibrosis company Sionna Therapeutics and kidney disease startup Maze Therapeutics. Ascentage Pharma, meanwhile, dual-listed. Eight-year-old Aardvark will sell 5.88 million shares $AARD at $16 apiece, the low end of the range it outlined last week . Industry insiders will keep an eye on the biotech’s first day of trading. Metsera and Sionna popped in their debuts, whereas Maze struggled to maintain its opening price. Aardvark’s debut could provide more fodder for investors and boardrooms of late-stage private biotechs looking to make the leap onto the public markets. IPO filings are expected to slow down for the next few weeks as companies do their year-end audits and get all the proper documentation together, but industry insiders are waiting for more IPO hopefuls to arrive later this spring. The company isn’t in need of immediate cash, having ended September with $82.3 million in cash and investments. But with a Phase 3 underway and two Phase 2 trial starts planned for the second half of this year, it’ll likely quickly ramp up R&D spending. Aardvark’s late-stage trial is testing an oral TAS2R agonist called ARD-101 for Prader-Willi syndrome-associated hyperphagia. Topline data are expected early next year, meaning Aardvark will likely go a few quarters on the public markets before delivering critical clinical data to investors and analysts. A Phase 2 of ARD-101 is coming up soon in hypothalamic obesity-associated hyperphagia. Aardvark also has mid-stage plans for a combination of another TAS2R agonist, dubbed ARD-201, and a DPP-4 inhibitor for obesity. Rather than going after appetite suppression like many of the obesity biotechs, Aardvark is honing in on hunger. “Most folks will conceptualize appetite and hunger as, ‘Aren’t they just different extremes along the same continuum?’” Aardvark CEO Tien Lee told Endpoints News in May 2024, after the company raised an $85 million Series C . “But they’re actually two different neurologic drives.” After that Series C, Aardvark named former Vertex VP and ViaCyte medical chief Manasi Sinha Jaiman to the chief medical officer post. It also boosted its board with former Merck medical chief Roy Baynes and former Akamara Therapeutics CEO Susan Graf. Tien and spouse Jane Wu Lee own the biggest piece of Aardvark, at 19.1%, according to IPO paperwork. Decheng Capital is the second largest shareholder at 17.2% and Vickers Venture Fund held 17.1% leading up to the IPO. The small, 18-employee biotech had also tested another asset, ARD-501, for autism spectrum disorder. Its pipeline also includes an oral candidate for overactive bladder, a topical for inflammatory skin disorders and an abuse deterrent.

Dive Brief:Aardvark Therapeutics on Wednesday night raised $94.2 million in an initial public offering that will support development of hunger-suppressing drugs for the rare disease Prader-Willi syndrome and obesity-related conditions.The biotechnology startup sold just under 5.9 million shares at $16 apiece in the offering, on the low end of projections it had outlined in a regulatory filing last week. It will start trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange Thursday under the ticker AARD.The offering is the fifth new stock issuance by a biotech this year this year, according to BioPharma Dive data. IPO activity has increased across sectors, too: Januarys total of 17 U.S. IPOs outpaced the ten-year historical average, research firm Renaissance Capital wrote in a recent report.Dive Insight:Prader-Willi is a rare condition that causes relentless hunger, known as hyperphagia. It has long been a tough target for drugmakers. Several attempts to develop a medicine for hyperphagia either failed in testing or were rejected by regulators. As a result, the only available treatment options for the estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people in the U.S. with Prader-Willi either manage symptoms or prevent complications.Theres a chance that could change shortly, should the Food and Drug Administration approve a hyperphagia drug from Soleno Therapeutics by the end of March.Aardvark may be close behind with a medicine codenamed ARD-101. The companys drug acts on certain types of so-called bitter taste receptors which, as their name suggests, convey acrid flavor from the mouth to the brain. Present in other tissues, they help regulate metabolism and inflammation, too.Activating these receptors can trigger secretion of a gut hormone, cholecystokinin, thats involved in hunger suppression. According to Aardvark, previous attempts to target these receptors with a drug have been hampered by safety concerns. But the company says ARD-101s safety risks are lower because its directed specifically to bitter taste receptors that are found in the gut.The company reported encouraging Phase 2 study results in 2023. It has since coordinated with the Food and Drug Administration on design of a late-stage study that, if successful, would support an approval application. Data from that study are expected early next year, according to the IPO filing.Aardvark also plans to start a mid-stage study later this year testing ARD-101 in a type of obesity related to treatment for brain cancer.The company has a second prospect combining ARD-101 with a DPP-4 inhibitor a drug type thats commonly used to treat diabetes. Aardvark claims the two mechanisms could be complementary and even boost the effects of popular incretin drugs like Wegovy. That hasnt been proven in testing, though. Aardvark will evaluate the strategys potential in obesity and related conditions in a Phase 2 trial beginning later this year.While there have been several notable IPOs so far this year, the pace of new biotech stock sales in 2025 is similar to each of the last three years, BioPharma Dive data show. IPO size has ticked higher, though. Initial offerings in 2025 have generated a median of $140 million in proceeds, versus about $129 million through this time last year and $88 million in 2023. '