With $70 million and a phase 2 ready asset in hand, British biotech Elevara Medicines has emerged to try to revolutionize the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
London-based Elevara was founded by Weatherden with initial funding from Monograph Capital, both of which joined the series A round led by Forbion and Sofinnova Partners, according to an Oct. 22 release.
The company is not dilly-dallying, with plans to launch a phase 2 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) trial by the end of the year. The trial is set to enroll about 180 RA patients whose disease has not responded to prior treatment with standard-of-care methotrexate and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, Elevara said.
The newly commissioned company’s lead asset is oral CDK4/6 inhibitor ELV001, and it comes to the U.K. by way of Japanese outfit Teijin Pharma. Elevara has licensed the exclusive global rights to develop, commercialize and manufacture ELV001 from Teijin, the company said.
“This $70 million financing provides us with the resources to rapidly advance ELV001 through phase 2 and to expand into other chronic inflammatory indications,” Elevara CEO Emma Tinsley said in the release. “We are grateful for the support of our investors and are excited to take this molecule forward with Teijin Pharma.”
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RA is an autoimmune disease where immune cells attack the joints, causing pain, stiffness and mobility issues. TNF is produced by immune cells like macrophages to trigger inflammation, and medicines like AbbVie’s blockbuster Humira (adalimumab) have been used for decades to treat RA and other inflammatory diseases by suppressing TNF activity.
However, the effect of those drugs tends to hit a ceiling, Elevara said. ELV001 is instead designed to circumvent the immune system entirely, targeting cells called fibroblast-like synoviocytes that synthesize the fluid keeping our joints lubricated. In RA, these cells go rogue and help produce the abnormal tissue that destroys cartilage and clogs up joints.
The asset has already shown early signs of efficacy, as well as a clean safety profile, in phase 1 testing, according to Elevara.
“The current standard of care isn’t achieving low disease activity and remission in a large proportion of patients with RA,” Dominique Baeten, M.D., Ph.D., Elevara’s chief medical officer, said in the release. “By targeting the synovial fibroblast rather than immune cells, ELV001 is uniquely positioned to work with approved immunomodulators for RA in early line therapy.”
Elevara will also use the series A funds to explore programs in other chronic inflammatory conditions and women’s health, according to the release.
The biotech’s CEO Tinsley has been chief exec of Weatherden, a U.K.-based clinical development services company, for five and a half years after first joining as chief financial officer in 2017. CMO Baeten has been Weatherden’s senior drug development physician since 2023 and a professor of rheumatology at Amsterdam University Medical Center since 2012.
