Character Biosciences Secures $93M Series B Financing to Advance Precision Therapies for Degenerative Eye Diseases

March 25, Jersey City, New Jersey,Character Biosciences, a precision medicine company dedicated to the development of drugs for polygenic diseases, announced an oversubscribed $93 million Series B financing round to accelerate the development of its precision therapy pipeline for degenerative eye diseases, starting with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The funding was co-led by new investors aMoon and Luma Group, with participation from Bausch + Lomb andJefferson Life SciencesExisting investors Innovation Endeavors, Catalio Capital Management, S32, and KdT Ventures also participated.Character was founded in 2019 under the name Clover Therapeutics, later renamed to Character Biosciences, and completed an $18 million financing round in May 2022.

AMD Affects One in Eight People Over 50 and Is the Leading Cause of Blindness in the Elderly Worldwide. Despite its Complexity, AMD Has Long Been Viewed as a Single Disease, Resulting in High Failure Rates in Drug Development. To Apply Precision Medicine Approaches to This Condition, Character Biosciences Has Partnered with Over 150 Ophthalmology Treatment Centers Across the U.S. to Conduct an AMD-Focused Observational Trial, Combining Genetics with Longitudinal Clinical and Imaging Data from More Than 6,500 Consenting Patients. This Proprietary Resource Enables the Company to Reclassify AMD into Genetically Defined Subtypes, Identify and Prioritize Therapeutic Targets, and Optimize Patient Selection for Clinical Trials.

This data-driven approach led to the discovery and development of its lead pipeline candidates, CTX203 and CTX114.Pipeline Targets Key Drivers of Retinal Cell Death and Vision Loss. CTX114 is a first-in-class complement inhibitor designed to slow the progression of geographic atrophy in advanced dry AMD, while CTX203 is a first-in-class lipid modulator aimed at preventing the progression to advanced AMD. Both programs are expected to enter clinical trials next year. The company is also leveraging its AI-driven genomics-based platform to expand its pipeline into other ocular diseases.

CTX203 is a helical peptide inspired by apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), a key component of "good cholesterol." When injected into the eye, this lipid modulator can help clear these fat deposits by removing lipids and stabilizing cholesterol transport proteins.CTX114 is an engineered version of Factor H-like protein 1 (FHL-1).Protein complement factor H and the related FHL-1 protein typically inhibit complement signaling and inflammation. However, loss-of-function mutations in FHL-1 appear to exacerbate the progression of AMD. When injected into the eye, CTX114 can serve as a new and improved version of this protein to control complement signaling and inflammation.

Cheng Zhang, CEO and Co-founder of Character Biosciences, stated:"Millions of patients with degenerative eye diseases lack effective treatments to slow disease progression. By identifying genetic modifiers of disease progression, we can develop therapies that more precisely target the root causes of the disease and improve clinical translation. This funding enables us to advance our leading program into first-in-human trials, with the goal of bringing new treatments to patients in urgent need of them."

aMoon partner Dr. Reut Shema stated:"The next frontier of precision medicine lies in the integration of genomics, deep phenotyping, and artificial intelligence applied to complex multigenic diseases. The Character Bio team is driving innovation by uniquely integrating historically isolated disciplines, spanning patient advocacy and provider partnerships, data integration and machine learning, statistical genetics and computational biology, as well as drug discovery and clinical development. We are proud to support this team’s mission to cure age-related blindness."

Dr. Jamie Kasuboski, Partner at Luma Group, stated:"Character Biosciences is leveraging its multi-omics approach to go beyond the traditional one-size-fits-all method, providing first-class therapies tailored to specific disease subtypes. Character's patient-first approach is unique in identifying those most likely to benefit from treatment, and we look forward to seeing the clinical impact of this approach through the proceeds of this financing."

The Series B financing will support the Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical proof-of-concept studies for CTX203 and CTX114, as well as Character Bio's pipeline expansion into other ophthalmic diseases. In January 2025, Character Bio announced a collaboration with Bausch + Lomb to developNew therapies for AMD, including upfront payments, potential downstream development, sales-based milestones, and royalties.