Attralus Raises $56 Million to Advance Pipeline of Amyloidosis Targeting Candidates

Rare Daily Staff

Attralus, a clinical-stage biotech developing transformative medicines targeting systemic amyloidosis, has closed a $56 million financing.

New investor Alpha Wave Ventures led the financing with participation by Bristol Myers Squibb and existing investors venBio Partners, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Vivo Capital, Logos Capital and Sarissa Capital Management.

“This financing reflects the recognition of the strong potential of our pipeline of innovative pan-amyloid removal (PAR) therapeutic candidates to bring a new treatment approach to patients with systemic amyloidosis with potential to reverse the disease pathology,” said Mark Timney, CEO of Attralus. “With this support, we plan to accelerate our clinical development strategy to advance our portfolio programs.”

Attralus intends to use the proceeds from the financing to advance the phase 1/2 development of Attralus’ lead PAR therapeutic product, AT-02, in ATTR and AL amyloidosis. The financing proceeds are also expected to support the clinical development of the pan-amyloid diagnostic imaging agent I-124-Evuzamitide (AT-01) and AT-05 diagnostic as well as the preclinical development of PAR therapeutic candidates for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Systemic amyloidosis encompasses a diverse group of rare diseases that occur due to accumulation of toxic amyloid deposits in tissues and organs, a consequence of aberrant protein misfolding events. These diseases are progressive, debilitating and often fatal. Systemic amyloidosis is significantly underdiagnosed due to low awareness, lack of specific symptoms, and no current disease-specific diagnostics. There are approximately 17 different types of systemic amyloidosis, which combined represent more than 500,000 patients in the United States, the European Union and Japan. The two most common forms of systemic amyloidosis are transthyretin-associated amyloidosis (ATTR) and immunoglobulin light-chain-associated (AL) amyloidosis. While currently approved treatments slow disease progression by targeting precursor proteins, there is a significant unmet need for new therapies that can remove toxic amyloid deposits across all amyloid types and improve organ function and patient quality of life.

AT-02 is the company’s lead pan-amyloid removal (PAR) therapeutic candidate for systemic amyloidosis. AT-02 is a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody genetically fused with the company’s proprietary pan-amyloid binding peptide, enabling binding to multiple types of amyloid deposits. The Fc region of the antibody stimulates the immune system to remove amyloid deposits that are bound by AT-02. AT-02 uses a similar pan-amyloid peptide to I-124-Evuzamitide, the company’s diagnostic agent, which has been shown in multiple clinical trials to selectively bind to amyloid deposits in the heart, liver, kidney, and other organs in multiple types of amyloidosis. As a result, the company expects AT-02 to bind specifically to amyloid in systemic amyloidosis patients. Preclinical data have shown the ability of AT-02 to bind to multiple amyloid types in major organs, induce macrophage mediated phagocytosis, and remove amyloid. AT-02 is currently being evaluated in an open label phase 1 / 2 clinical trial in ATTR and AL amyloidosis patients.

Attralus is also developing the next generation of therapies for neurodegenerative diseases by simultaneously targeting multiple proteinopathies. Patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Lewy Body diseases, often have multiple proteinopathies. The company’s research is aiming to capitalize on this by binding to multiple misfolded protein aggregates including Aβ, Tau, and α-Synuclein. Attralus’ pan-amyloid product candidates provide an opportunity for therapeutics that can simultaneously target multiple proteinopathies in individual patients unlike approved therapies that target a single proteinopathy. The company is also exploring a blood brain barrier shuttle to potentially improve brain penetration.

Photo: Mark Timney, CEO of Attralus