RARE Daily

Palladio Raises $20 Million to Advance Trial of Treatment for Rare Kidney Disease

September 25, 2020

Rare Daily Staff

Palladio Biosciences completed a $20 million Series B financing to fund the phase 3 study of its experimental treatment for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, a rare disease characterized by uncontrolled growth of fluid-filled cysts in the kidney, which can each grow to be as large as a football.

New investor Samsara BioCapital led the financing, with participation from new investor Roche Venture Fund and existing investors Medicxi and Osage University Partners.

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an inherited genetic disease that affects up to 600,000 people in the United States and millions globally. It is estimated that approximately 140,000 people in the United States have been diagnosed with ADPKD, the most common type of PKD. A person with ADPKD has a 50 percent chance of passing the disease on to each of his or her children. The uncontrolled growth of fluid-filled cysts in the kidney can lead to kidney infections and pain. The continued enlargement of cysts and replacement of normal kidney tissue causes irreversible loss of renal function. Every year there are approximately 2,500 new PKD patients in the United States who require dialysis or a kidney transplant, making PKD the fourth leading cause of kidney failure. There is no cure for PKD.

“We are focused on developing our lead candidate, lixivaptan, for the treatment of ADPKD, an orphan disease with a significant unmet medical need that can impact many generations of a family,” said Alex Martin, CEO of Palladio.

Lixivaptan is a potent, selective vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist that has been shown to slow kidney function decline in adults at risk of rapidly progressing ADPKD. The phase 2 ELiSA study in patients with ADPKD also demonstrated a successful administration to a patient who had previously been unable to take tolvaptan, the only drug currently approved for the treatment of ADPKD, due to liver enzyme increases under an expanded access program.

The phase 3 ALERT study will assess the safety of lixivaptan in ADPKD patients who show liver chemistry abnormalities or other signs of liver toxicity while taking tolvaptan.

The trial is currently enrolling patients between the ages of 18-65, who had been permanently discontinued from tolvaptan therapy due to liver chemistry abnormalities or other signs of liver toxicity, and who will be treated with lixivaptan for up to 58 weeks.

Photo: Alex Martin, CEO of Palladio

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