Atlanta biotechnology company Altesa BioSciences announced Thursday it closed a $75 million Series B round to advance a drug it sees as helpful treating multiple chronic lung conditions.
Altesa’s drug vapendavir is an antiviral that targets the rhinovirus, a pathogen associated with several illnesses, from the common cold to asthma. Importantly, rhinoviruses are also a driver of the symptom flare-ups, or “exacerbations” that can be particularly harmful to people with the lung disease chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, or COPD.
Altesa aims to prove in clinical testing that vapendavir — which blocks the virus from entering cells — can help improve health outcomes in COPD by stopping these infections and their complications. Last year, the company completed a Phase 2a “challenge” study showing that treatment was associated with an improvement in respiratory symptoms and shorter illness in COPD patients infected with a rhinovirus. It expects to start a much larger, placebo-controlled mid-stage trial in the second quarter.
“By focusing on the true medical need — patients most at risk for hospitalization, death, and long-term decline — we hope to radically improve outcomes and reduce overall healthcare burden,” said Brett Giroir, Altesa’s CEO, in a statement. Giroir was once an acting FDA commissioner and a COVID-19 testing “czar” under the first Trump administration.
Vapendavir, meanwhile, has changed hands a few times. The drug’s original developer was Aviragen Therapeutics, which studied the treatment against asthma but reported a Phase 2 failure in 2017. Aviragen was acquired a year later by Vaxart, which then licensed vapendavir to Altesa in 2021. Under that deal, Vaxart could receive up to $130 million in development and commercial milestones, as well as sales royalties, if vapendavir succeeds in testing and gets to market.
Altesa’s Series B funding was led by Forbion and included backing from Sanofi, Medicxi, Pitango and Atlantic Partners. The company secured $35 million in previous funding round three years ago, according to a federal securities filing.
Giroir joined Altesa in 2022 as the biotech company finalized a research agreement with Emory University to develop drugs for viral diseases like dengue fever and Zika. Three years later, Altesa hired former GSK Chief Medical Officer Katharine Knobil to oversee clinical development of vapendavir.
In its statement Thursday, Altesa said vapendavir could be useful in treating other “high-risk respiratory populations,” such as people with asthma.
