Aeovian Pharmaceuticals Secures $37 Million Series A Financing to Advance Selective mTORC1 Inhibitor for Age-Related Rare Diseases

On October 8, 2019, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that biopharmaceutical company Aeovian Pharmaceuticals (“Aeovian”) announced the completion of a $37 million Series A financing round. The round was led by VenBio Partners (“VenBio”) and Sofinnova Investments, with participation from Apollo Health Ventures (“Apollo”) and Evotec SE.

Upon completion of this financing round, Dr. Richard Gaster, Managing Director at VenBio; Dr. Mike Powell, Executive Partner at Sofinnova Investments; and Dr. Jens Eckstein, Executive Partner at Apollo, will join the Board of Directors of Aeovian.

It is reported that Aeovian will use the funds from this round of financing to develop AE116, a selective mTORC1 inhibitor, for the treatment of age-related rare diseases of the central nervous system.

Aeovian is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Francisco, United States. The company is dedicated to developing highly selective mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors to improve clinical outcomes for patients with age-related rare diseases.

mTOR is a critical regulator of cell growth and proliferation. Extensive research has demonstrated that dysregulation of its signaling pathway is closely associated with abnormal cell proliferation. Furthermore, as this protein occupies a pivotal position in tumor signaling pathways, it represents a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment.

mTOR comprises two distinct complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, which belong to the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-related kinase (PIKK) protein family. These two complexes are localized to different subcellular compartments and exhibit distinct levels of activation and functions, thereby regulating various cellular activities. mTORC1 primarily promotes protein synthesis, lipogenesis, and energy metabolism in humans, while inhibiting autophagy.

Currently, most mTOR inhibitors target mTORC2. These agents are detrimental to metabolic and immune functions, frequently exhibit off-target effects, and demonstrate suboptimal therapeutic efficacy. In contrast, Aeovian’s candidate drug AE116 is a highly selective mTORC1 inhibitor, holding promise for overcoming the clinical limitations of existing mTOR inhibitors.

“VenBio Head and Aeovian Director Richard Gaster stated, ‘We believe that Aeovian’s mTORC1 inhibitor can be widely applied to hard-to-treat rare diseases. In addition to central nervous system disorders, we hope it can also treat other age-related diseases.’”

Jens Eckstein, Managing Partner at Apollo, stated, “Apollo is delighted to partner with Aeovian, which will help us continue developing therapeutics for age-related rare diseases.”

VenBio, headquartered in San Francisco, USA, is a venture capital and private equity firm. The company primarily focuses on the life sciences sector, collaborating with industry leaders to develop breakthrough drugs and technologies.

Sofinnova Investments, established in 1974 and headquartered in San Francisco, USA, is a venture capital firm. The company boasts an experienced investment management team and primarily provides financial support to biotechnology and healthcare enterprises.

Apollo, a venture capital firm founded in 2016 and headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, primarily invests in biotechnology companies to help develop therapeutics for age-related diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and sarcopenia.

Evotec SE, founded in 1993 and headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, is a biopharmaceutical company. The company is dedicated to collaborating with leading biotechnology enterprises to develop innovative drugs.

(Compiled by Xu Xiaoxue)