A hefty $125 million in new financing has been written in the stars for Star Therapeutics through an oversubscribed series D funding round.
The series D was co-led by Sanofi Ventures and Viking Global Investors, with support from over a dozen existing investors including Sofinnova, Blue Owl Capital and RA Capital Management. New investors such as Janus Henderson Investors, Fraizer Life Sciences and GordonMD Global Investments joined the fold with participation as well, Star announced in a Sept. 30 press release.
“This new funding from leading life sciences investors reinforces the urgency and impact of our mission: to bring life-changing therapies to people living with serious bleeding disorders and other diseases in hematology and immunology,” Star’s CEO and founder Adam Rosenthal, Ph.D., explained.
Star will specifically use the funds to continue advancing its pipeline, including its lead program VGA039. The company is positioning VGA039, a monoclonal antibody that targets Protein S to promote proper blood clotting, as a universal hemostatic therapy for multiple bleeding disorders starting with the most common inherited bleeding disorder, von Willebrand disease (VWD).
VWD impacts more than 50,000 people diagnosed and treated in the U.S. each year, according to Rosenthal. Earlier this year, Star's VGA039 became the first drug candidate to receive an FDA fast track designation for the disease. The company has already initiated a pivotal phase 3 trial of the subcutaneous injection in patients with all types of VWD and could offer a "transformative" new option as a self-administered, once-monthly treatment that has a convenience edge on standard factor replacement prophylaxis, Rosenthal added.
Along with the new financing, a seat on Star’s board of directors will go to Sanofi Ventures Managing Director Jason Hafler, Ph.D.
“VWD represents a compelling opportunity, with a sizable patient population and significant unmet need,” Hafler added in the release. “With VGA039 advancing into Phase 3 for VWD, Star is well-positioned to deliver both substantial patient impact and long-term value.”
San Francisco-based Star Therapeutics has historically operated as a biotech portfolio company home to a constellation of specialized programs. The company’s blood disorder ambitions are still clustered in-house under its Vega program, while rare disease-focused Electra Therapeutics has spun out from Star into its own independently funded company.
“Each of our programs goes after multiple diseases with each antibody therapy—so it's a constellation of diseases for every one of our programs,” Rosenthal previously told Fierce Biotech.
In 2023, Star collected $90 million in funds from an oversubscribed series C round and has so far raised more than $300 million from leading investors in total, according to the company.