Allena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Newton, MA-based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative non-systemic oral protein therapeutics to treat metabolic and orphan diseases, completed a $53m Series C financing.
The round was led by Partner Fund Management with participation from new investors Fidelity Management & Research Company and Wellington Management Company, and existing investors Frazier Healthcare, HBM BioCapital, and Pharmstandard International, S.A.
The company, which has raised a total of $96m in equity financing, intends to use the proceeds to advance its lead product candidate, ALLN-177, for the treatment of secondary hyperoxaluria* in patients with a history of calcium oxalate kidney stones, into Phase 3 clinical trials, to explore additional indications for ALLN-177, including oxalate nephropathy and primary hyperoxaluria, and to develop new product candidates utilizing its non-systemic oral protein therapeutic platform.
Led by Alexey Margolin, co-founder, president and chief executive officer, and Louis Brenner, MD, chief operating officer, Allena Pharmaceuticals focuses on developing and commercializing non-systemic protein therapeutics to treat metabolic and orphan diseases. The company is currently conducting two additional Phase 2 clinical trials of its lead product candidate, ALLN-177, in patients with hyperoxaluria.
Its technological approach enables the design and development of oral protein therapies that remain in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, where the protein exerts its therapeutic effect by degrading metabolites, without being absorbed into the bloodstream.
*Hyperoxaluria is a condition resulting from high oxalate levels in the urine due to either hyper-absorption of oxalate from the diet (secondary) or from overproduction of oxalate by the liver (primary) due to a genetic defect. Oxalate is a terminal metabolite that cannot be further degraded by humans and is primarily excreted by the kidneys. Hyperoxaluria can initially cause the development of kidney stones, and may also lead to kidney damage (nephrocalcinosis), chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease and dialysis. Calcium oxalate is the most common constituent of kidney stones. There are currently no approved pharmacologic treatments for hyperoxaluria.
FinSMEs
09/12/2015