Lyndra Therapeutics Secures $13 Million Grant from Gates Foundation to Develop Once-Monthly Oral Contraceptive

On July 31, 2019, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that biotechnology and pharmaceutical company Lyndra Therapeutics (Lyndra) announced the completion of a $13 million financing round (the specific round was not disclosed). The financing was led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Lyndra plans to use the funds from this financing round to design a regimen that continuously delivers estrogen and progestin, developing an ultra-long-acting oral contraceptive with sustained release for up to one month.

The financing provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is part of its dedicated funding for the fertility initiative. This program aims to provide women in low- and middle-income countries with high-quality gynecological care and contraceptive medications.

It is reported that Lyndra has completed four rounds of financing. Among them, the company closed a $60.9 million Series B financing round in February 2019 and a $23 million Series A financing round in April 2017.

Lyndra, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, is a biotechnology and pharmaceutical company. The company is dedicated to developing sustained-release drug delivery technologies and long-acting contraceptives. Additionally, Lyndra is developing therapeutic agents for conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, kidney transplant rejection, HIV/AIDS, and malaria.

Lyndra has jointly developed a sustained-release drug delivery technology with Professor Robert Langer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The company’s primary candidate is a generic version of memantine hydrochloride (Namenda) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. A clinical trial conducted in November 2018 demonstrated that, when formulated with this sustained-release technology, the drug can be administered once weekly while maintaining efficacy comparable to the original daily dosing regimen.

Lyndra’s team has also applied this sustained-release technology to a capsule-based drug, enabling controlled release within the patient’s stomach for over a week. Clinical trials have demonstrated stable pharmacokinetics, safe delivery of the active ingredient to the body, and reduced toxic side effects.

Ultra-long-acting oral medications can reduce the medication burden on patients and improve their adherence to treatment. Lyndra will collaborate with Route 2 Results, a non-profit public health research organization, to develop ultra-long-acting therapeutic agents. Professor Patrick Kiser, a biomedical engineer at Northwestern University in the United States, stated, “The development of ultra-long-acting drugs is not easy; the drug must remain in the highly acidic environment of gastric fluid for up to a month, which places extremely high demands on its stability.”

Amy Schulman, Co-Founder and CEO of Lyndra, stated, “This investment is significant as it will help us make greater contributions to women’s health. Lyndra is delighted to partner with the Gates Foundation to jointly improve women’s reproductive health outcomes.”

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 1997 and headquartered in Washington State, USA, is a charitable trust and investment entity. The foundation primarily focuses on improving education, health, and medical care for people in developing and less-developed countries. It invests in life sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical companies, committed to providing the public with advanced medical services, effective medications, and innovative therapies.

(Compiled by Xu Xiaoxue)