BioAge Labs, a Richmond, CA-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel therapies for obesity and metabolic diseases by harnessing the biology of aging, raised $170M in Series D funding.
The round was led by Sofinnova Investments. New investors including Longitude Capital, RA Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, RTW Investments, SV Health Investors, OrbiMed Advisors, Sands Capital, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, Osage University Partners, Lilly Ventures, and Amgen Ventures also participated in the round alongside existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health. In connection with the financing, James Healy, M.D., Ph.D., managing partner at Sofinnova Investments, will join BioAge as Chairman of the Board, and Patrick Enright, managing director at Longitude Capital, will join as Board Director.
The company intends to use the funds to advance Phase 2 clinical trials of azelaprag, an apelin receptor (APJ) agonist, in combination with Lilly’s Zepbound (tirzepatide) and therapeutic pipeline.
Led by CEO Kristen Fortney, BioAge is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is harnessing the biology of human aging to develop novel targets and therapies for metabolic diseases. The company’s lead program, azelaprag, is a potential first-in-class oral APJ agonist entering Phase 2 trials in combination with tirzepatide for the treatment of obesity in older adults. Azelaprag has the potential as an oral regimen to amplify weight loss and improve body composition in patients on obesity therapy with incretin drugs. Its preclinical programs address key pathways in metabolic aging, based on novel insights from its discovery platform built on human longevity data.
Commenting on the news, Kristen Fortney said “This funding will support us through key clinical milestones and data readouts for our lead compound azelaprag in obesity, as well as advance our earlier-stage metabolic aging pipeline. The azelaprag program highlights our discovery platform’s ability to identify novel approaches to treating metabolic disease.”
FinSMEs
13/02/2024