Kailera Therapeutics, a Boston, MA-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, launched with $400M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Atlas Venture, Bain Capital Life Sciences, and RTW Investments, with participation from Lyra Capital.
The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts.
Led by CEO Ron Renaud, Kailera Therapeutics is developing a differentiated portfolio of clinical-stage injectable and oral therapies for the treatment of obesity and related conditions. Its main program, KAI-9531 (being developed in China as HRS9531), is an injectable GLP-1/GIP receptor dual agonist that has demonstrated positive results in Phase 2 trials in obesity and type 2 diabetes in China. The company is also advancing a diversified pipeline leveraging several mechanisms and routes of delivery, including oral administration.
In conjunction with the launch, the company also announced several key leadership appointments. The initial Kailera executive leadership team appointments include:
- Doug Bakan, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer, formerly of Ventyx Biosciences, Arena Pharmaceuticals, and Medicis Pharmaceutical
- Paul Burgess, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Officer, formerly of Cerevel Therapeutics, Translate Bio, and Civitas
- Paula Cloghessy, Chief People Officer, formerly of Seres Therapeutics, Translate Bio, and Joule Unlimited Technologies
- Scott Wasserman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, formerly of Frazier Life Sciences, Latigo Biotherapeutics, and Amgen
Kailera acquired exclusive rights for global development and commercialization of a portfolio of four metabolic disease assets outside of greater China from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd (Hengrui), a leading global pharmaceutical company, in May 2024.
The company has offices in Waltham, MA and San Diego, CA.
FinSMEs
01/10/2024