Enveda has closed its second $150 million financing round of the year. The series D round, which moves Enveda’s total funding beyond $500 million, positions the biotech to advance a crop of programs into the clinic behind its phase 1b eczema prospect.
Colorado-based Enveda is built on the idea that molecules made by living organisms are an underused source of drug candidates. There is a long history of turning natural products into drugs, but the industry has largely moved away from the model. Enveda is betting that technology for organizing, analyzing and screening molecules can revitalize natural product drug discovery while shortening the path to the clinic.
VCs have bought into the idea. Enveda raised a $130 million series C round late last year, securing cash for a phase 1 trial of eczema prospect ENV-294. Sanofi added to the round in February, bringing the total size of the series C up to $150 million.
Enveda’s addition of a further $150 million to its coffers equips the biotech to move multiple programs into phase 1b and phase 2 trials. The biotech is already enrolling patients in a phase 1b trial of ENV-294, a small molecule with a novel, as-yet-undisclosed mechanism of action. Enveda is pitching ENV-294 as an asset that could pair the efficacy of JAK inhibitors with the safety of drugs that hit IL-4 and IL-13.
The company is developing ENV-294 in eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, and asthma. ENV-6946 and ENV-308 are scheduled to join Enveda’s clinical roster this year. ENV-6946 is a gut-preferred inhibitor of the NLRP3/TL1A+ pathway that the company sees as a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. ENV-308 is a first-in-class, oral small molecule for the treatment of obesity.
Another two drug candidates are at the IND-enabling stage and a bunch of other programs are back at the discovery or optimization steps. As it works out where to place its R&D bets, Enveda has added a person credited with moving more than 150 drug candidates into clinical trials to its board. That person is Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., Pfizer’s former chief scientific officer.
Premji Invest led the series D round with support from a mix of new and existing investors, namely Baillie Gifford, Kinnevik, Lingotto Investment Management, Peakline Partners, FPV, Socium Ventures, Dimension, Level Ventures, Henry Kravis, IA Ventures and Lux Capital.