Nearly a year ago, Merck struck a $10.8 billion deal to acquire Prometheus Biosciences, a clinical-stage company whose technology platform analyzed genetics and biology data to discover new drugs. The executive who led Prometheus to that buyout is now back with a new immunology startup supported by $400 million.
Mirador Therapeutics launched Thursday, aiming to take the precision medicine approaches that have led to advances in cancer drugs and apply them to the research of new therapies for immunology and inflammation. It’s a similar strategy to the one taken by Prometheus under the helm of Mark McKenna, now the CEO of San Diego-based Mirador.
There’s a plethora of immunology drugs on the market. But Mirador notes that for many patients, these drugs don’t work well enough, if at all. The startup aims to discover better drugs by analyzing human data. It says its technology platform, Mirador360, analyzes data from millions of patient profiles to discover and validate genetic associations to immune-fibrotic diseases. The Mirador technology also identifies novel drug targets, eludicates target-target interactions, and optimizes for potential combination therapies. Going even further, the company says its technology enables it to develop diagnostics that can identify patients for clinical trials.
“At Mirador, we envision a bold new era of precision medicine for immune-mediated inflammatory and fibrotic diseases driven by speed and superior development accuracy,” McKenna said in a prepared statement. “The industry has only scratched the surface of utilizing advances in human genetics — coupled with exponential progress in machine learning — to accelerate the development of precision therapies for patients who need them the most.”
Prometheus’s lead program was in development for treating ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. That drug, which Merck has since renamed tulisokibart, is an antibody designed to block TL1A, a protein associated with inflammation. A Phase 3 ulcerative colitis study is underway. TL1A has become a hot target. Last fall, Sanofi began a partnership with Teva Pharmaceuticals focused on developing that company’s TL1A-blocking antibody. Weeks later, Roche paid $7.1 billion to acquire Telavant, a Roivant Sciences subsidiary with a Phase 3-ready TL1A-targeting antibody.
The immunology and inflammation targets of Mirador remain undisclosed, but the startup says its new capital will be applied toward the development of multiple programs. The total capital announced Thursday is a combination of seed and Series A financing. Mirador said the financing was led by Arch Venture Partners with early investments from OrbiMed and Fairmount. Other investors include Fidelity Management & Research Company, Point72, Farallon Capital Management, Boxer Capital, TCGX, Invus, Logos Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures, Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities, Sanofi Ventures, Woodline Partners LP, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, RTW Investments, and Alexandria Venture Investments.
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