ai3Bio launches with $48M to target autoimmune disease at its root
What's the deal? ai3BioDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → launched with $48 million in Series A funding to develop treatments that reset the immune system by eliminating disease-causing Th17 cells. UPMC EnterprisesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Ziff Capital PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the round, with support from Cockrell InterestsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Tanis VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the endgame? The biotech company aims to shift autoimmune care from broadly suppressing inflammation to removing the underlying cause of disease. Its goal, chief executive officer Steven Altschuler said, is "providing patients with a one-step treatment."
The product: ai3Bio is advancing two platforms. STARx uses a lipid nanoparticle to deliver mRNA that triggers a self-destruct process in Th17 cells; T Deplete uses an antibody to recruit the body's immune cells to clear the same cells. The antibody platform showed efficacy in a non-human primate model, with safety studies underway.
Why now? The capital will fund IND-enabling studies that advance both platforms toward first-in-human trials. Founding investors UPMC Enterprises and Ziff Capital Partners backed the underlying technologies before combining them to create the company.
Why it matters: More than 15 million Americans live with autoimmune diseases, and current therapies suppress the immune system broadly, leaving disease-causing cells untouched and patients prone to relapse once treatment ends. "Despite billions of dollars of investment, no therapeutic on the market today delivers lasting remission," Altschuler said.
The signal: The global autoimmune treatment market has surpassed $130 billion, and newer in vivo therapies are reprogramming cells inside the body. But most target B cells through indirect, multi-step processes — ai3Bio is betting that directly eliminating Th17 cells in a single step can carve out a distinct position.
Read more: business.thepilotnews.com
Image credit: ai3Bio
