Slate Medicines has emerged with hopes of cracking the code for delivering an injectable novel drug class to prevent migraines, an area where others—such as Eli Lilly and Amgen—have previously failed.
Slate is etching a total of $130 million into the chalkboard, money that will go toward developing next-gen headache disorder therapies, including a lead monoclonal antibody licensed from a Chinese biotech.
The biotech’s series A financing round was co-led by RA Capital Management, Forbion and Foresite Capital, with participation from an unnamed biotech investor, according to a Feb. 24 release.
The cash infusion will help Slate move forward its lead program, labeled SLTE-1009, a candidate in-licensed from DartsBio Pharmaceutical. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Raleigh, North Carolina-based biotech will advance SLTE-1009 into clinical testing, with a phase 1 study expected to launch in mid-2026. The asset is an anti-PACAP (pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide) therapy, a novel drug class differentiated from approved preventive treatments that inhibit calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP).
SLTE-1009 is designed to be delivered via injection, with the possibility of providing at-home dosing, according to Slate CEO Gregory Oakes, a biopharma vet with more than 30 years of leadership experience. Most recently, he served as a venture partner at RA Capital’s healthcare incubator Raven and before that, he led autoimmune-disease-focused Landos Biopharma, which was acquired in 2024 by AbbVie.
“With compelling biology, a differentiated product profile and strong investor backing, Slate Medicines is positioned to redefine migraine prevention for patients who need new options,” Oakes said in the release.
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Joining Oakes is Slate co-founder Neil Buckley—also a venture partner with Raven—who currently serves as the biotech’s chief operating officer. Buckley created Slate alongside RA Capital’s Sera Medicines, a biologics accelerator aiming to advance new protein therapeutics.
Oakes and Buckley are accompanied by Chief Medical Officer Roger Cady, M.D., former vice president of neurology at Alder BioPharmaceuticals and Lundbeck.
“For the millions of patients with an inadequate response to existing standard of care, we believe that SLTE-1009 offers a novel, orthogonal approach to preventing migraines,” Cady said in a statement.
Just this month, Lundbeck announced that its intravenous anti-PACAP antibody met the main goal of a phase 2b migraine prevention study. The pharma had also been examining multiple doses of its experimental anti-PACAP via injection but stopped development in that delivery method last year after reviewing study data.
The subcutaneous method in migraines has proven challenging for other players, as well.
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A few years ago, Amgen reported no benefit over placebo for its monoclonal antibody targeting the PAC1 receptor, while Eli Lilly stopped development of its anti-PACAP antibody after phase 2.
New biotech Slate will also work to accelerate an undisclosed pipeline, according to the company.
