Antag Therapeutics, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based biopharmaceutical company developing new treatments for obesity, raised €80M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Versant Ventures, with participation from Novo Holdings, SR One, Dawn Biopharma (a platform controlled by KKR), Pictet, Longview Ventures (an affiliate of Broadview Ventures), and Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO).
The company intends to use the funds to support the clinical development of AT-7687, a novel, once-weekly subcutaneous antagonist of the Glucose-Dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide Receptor (GIPR) and to accelerate the expansion of its pipeline of monthly injectable therapies.
Led by CEO Alexander Hovard Sparre-Ulrich, Antag Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing new therapies for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases through GIP receptor antagonism.
AT-7687 is a peptide designed to be co-administrated with current or future obesity therapies including GLP-1 medicines to deliver superior weight loss and metabolic benefits. This flexibility in dosing provides multiple advantages over competing GIPR blockers such as antibodies directly conjugated to GLP-1. These include the ability to optimally drug each target for maximal efficacy and tolerability. In addition, AT-7687 also can be used as a single agent in the maintenance setting.
In non-human primate studies, AT-7687 plus a GLP-1 produced best-in-industry weight loss. Furthermore, AT-7687 improved glycemic control and lipid profiles independent of weight changes. Importantly, these benefits were achieved without gastrointestinal side effects.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted Antag’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for AT-7687, setting the stage for clinical development to begin early next year. The trials will explore the effects of AT-7687 as both a monotherapy and in combination with a GLP-1 receptor agonist in obese patients. Antag’s pipeline also includes combinations beyond GLP-1 receptor agonists and a follow-on molecule that enables monthly administration.
FinSMEs
04/12/2024