Triveni Bio, the product of a merger between Amagma Therapeutics and Modify Therapeutics, has unveiled with $92 million and a lead preclinical antibody program targeting eczema and asthma.
The $92 million series A was co-led by Cormorant Asset Management and Atlas Venture, founder of Modify Therapeutics. OrbiMed, Viking Global Investors, Invus, Polaris Partners, Alexandria Venture Investments and other unnamed investors also joined in on Triveni’s financing round.
The money will help fund TRIV-509, the biotech’s lead program that targets kallikreins 5 and 7 (KLK5/7) to treat inflammation & immunology conditions such as eczema and asthma. The preclinical precision medicine is designed to directly tackle barrier dysfunction, inflammation, and itch, Triveni Chief Scientific Officer Jennifer Dovey, Ph.D., said in an Oct. 26 release. In particular, the biotech hopes to help eczema patients who don’t have strong responses to Th2-targeted therapies.
Triveni hopes the new funds will fuel TRIV-509 from preclinical development into a phase 2a clinical trial, while also helping build a pipeline of new antibodies. The Massachusetts-based biotech anticipates nominating two more development candidates next year.
Not much is known about either Amagma or Modify (both biotechs no longer have active websites), though both were based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Amagma was founded by Adimab’s former CEO and Dartmouth professor Tillman Gerngross, Ph.D., and Harvard researcher and serial biotech creator Leonard Zon, M.D. According to LinkedIn, the company focused on the development of antibody therapeutics against hard-to-treat inflammatory diseases, with a focus on GI disorders. Before Triveni, CSO Dovey had worked at Amagma for more than three years, up until December 2022.
Even less is known about Modify, with founder and funder Atlas keeping much about the company under wraps.
Editor's note: This article was updated 11:30 a.m. ET, Nov. 2 to clarify how the financing will be used.