Artizan Biosciences Closes $11 Million Series A-2 Financing and Enters Option and License Agreement with Biohaven Therapeutic...
March 01 2021 - 04:00PM
Artizan Biosciences, Inc. (“Artizan”), a biotechnology company
focused on addressing inflammatory diseases involving the human
intestinal microbiota, today announced the company has raised $11
million in a Series A-2 financing led by existing investor Hatteras
Venture Partners and new investor Biohaven Therapeutics Ltd.
(“Biohaven”). Additional new investor CT Innovations and existing
investors Elm Street Ventures and Osage University Partners also
participated in the round. Artizan will use the proceeds to
continue advancing the preclinical research and development of its
lead program for inflammatory bowel disease (“IBD”), which is
anticipated to enter the clinic in 2022, as well as to explore
additional disease targets.
Artizan has also entered into an option and license agreement
with Biohaven aimed at developing and commercializing Artizan’s
novel treatments for IBD in the U.S. Under the terms of the
agreement, Biohaven has the rights to exercise an option on up to
three IBD product candidates. Artizan is eligible to receive option
exercise payments and milestone payments, which are based on the
market potential of each product candidate, as well as tiered
royalties.
In addition, the agreement provides an opportunity for a
collaboration combining Artizan’s proprietary IgA-SEQ™ platform
with Biohaven’s expertise in drug development and commercialization
to discover and develop novel treatments for neurological diseases.
Artizan and Biohaven have established financial terms as a basis
for the collaboration and are working towards execution of a
definitive agreement.
“We are thrilled that Biohaven recognizes the potential of our
proprietary discovery platform to identify and characterize
disease-driving bacteria and develop therapies for unmet medical
needs,” said James Rosen, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Artizan Biosciences. “This adds to our positive momentum as we
continue driving our lead IBD program toward the clinic. In
addition to our ongoing preclinical research, we are proud that our
world-class biobanking program has now collected approximately
1,500 proprietary samples and clinical data from nearly 300 IBD
patients and 200 healthy controls. We look forward to leveraging
these insights to better understand the mechanism of the disease
and develop potentially curative new treatments.”
Artizan also has a collaboration agreement with Brii Biosciences
(“Brii Bio”) to develop and commercialize up to two programs in
Artizan’s portfolio in China upon achievement of clinical proof of
concept.
In connection with the financing, Donnie McGrath, M.D., and Seth
Rudnick, M.D., have joined Artizan’s board of directors.
Dr. McGrath has more than 20 years of pharmaceutical industry
experience, and currently serves as Chief of Corporate Strategy and
Business Development for Biohaven, and Executive Chairman of
BioShin Ltd. He joined Biohaven in 2017 from Bristol-Myers Squibb
(BMS), where he was Vice President of Business Development and Head
of Search & Evaluation.
“I am pleased to join Artizan’s board of directors as the
company enters an agreement with Biohaven for IBD treatments, and
to discover novel targets and treatments for neurological diseases,
both therapeutic areas where significant unmet needs still exist,”
said Dr. McGrath. “Artizan’s approach holds promise to develop
potentially curative treatments for patients with IBD, as well as
treatments for a variety of neurological diseases.”
Dr. Rudnick has extensive expertise in drug discovery and
development and healthcare investments. He currently serves on the
boards of directors of G1 Therapeutics and Liquidia Technologies.
Dr. Rudnick spent nearly 15 years building the biopharmaceutical
investing capability for Canaan Partners. Prior to joining Canaan,
he was the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of CytoTherapeutics
and served in leadership roles at Ortho Biotech and Biogen N.V.
“Through its work to revolutionize the understanding of the
underlying causes of disease, Artizan is redefining potential
therapeutic options for inflammatory diseases,” said Dr. Rudnick.
“I look forward to working with the board as Artizan initially
seeks to address the unmet needs of the 1.6 million Americans
suffering with IBD.”
About Artizan Biosciences, Inc.Artizan
Biosciences, Inc. is a biotechnology company founded by renowned
immunologists Richard Flavell, PhD, Noah Palm, PhD, and Marcel R.
de Zoete, PhD, to address inflammatory diseases involving the human
intestinal microbiota. The company is leveraging its proprietary
discovery technology platform to identify and characterize
disease-driving bacteria from the intestinal microbiota with the
goal of developing new and potentially curative treatments for
unmet medical needs. Artizan’s lead program is focused on
inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a group of inflammatory
conditions of the small intestine and colon including ulcerative
colitis and Crohn’s disease. The company has a therapeutic strategy
to target specific pathogens as treatment for IBD and potentially
for a variety of microbiota-driven diseases such as obesity,
metabolic syndrome, autoimmune disease and a variety of skin, lung,
liver and central nervous system diseases. Artizan Biosciences is
located in New Haven, CT. For more information, please visit
www.artizanbiosciences.com.
About BiohavenBiohaven Pharmaceutical Holding
Company Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN), parent company of Biohaven Therapeutics
Ltd., is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company with a
portfolio of innovative, best-in-class therapies to improve the
lives of patients with debilitating neurological and
neuropsychiatric diseases, including rare disorders. Biohaven's
neuroinnovation portfolio includes FDA-approved NURTEC® ODT
(rimegepant) for the acute treatment of migraine and a broad
pipeline of late-stage product candidates across three distinct
mechanistic platforms: CGRP receptor antagonism for the acute and
preventive treatment of migraine; glutamate modulation for
obsessive-compulsive disorder, Alzheimer's disease, and
spinocerebellar ataxia; and MPO inhibition for multiple system
atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. More information about
Biohaven is available at www.biohavenpharma.com.
NURTEC and NURTEC ODT are registered trademarks of Biohaven
Pharmaceutical Ireland DAC.
Investor Contact:James H. RosenPresident &
Chief Executive OfficerArtizan Biosciences,
Inc.info@artizanbiosciences.com
Media Contact:Gina Cestari6 Degrees(917)
797-7904gcestari@6degreespr.com
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