Listed Arix Bioscience, a global venture capital company focused on investing in and building biotech companies, has announced it has co-led a Series A financing in new portfolio company, Sorriso Pharmaceuticals, alongside New Enterprise Associates.
As part of the financing, Arix has committed $13 million for a 26 percent stake on a fully diluted basis. Mark Chin, managing director of Arix, will join the Sorriso board as part of the deal.
Sorriso Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of disease-modifying antibodies for the treatment of inflammatory disease, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The Sorriso platform generates potent antibodies that can be delivered orally and are designed to maintain activity throughout the intestinal system.
The lead programme, SOR102, is being developed for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). SOR102 simultaneously inhibits TNFa and IL-23, two clinically validated drivers of IBD. This unique approach combines the strong clinical impact of antibody therapeutics with the benefits of oral administration, resulting in targeted activity, negligible systemic exposure and minimal immunogenicity.
Sorriso is led by Ciara Kennedy, former chief executive of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, a former portfolio company of Arix until its acquisition by Pfizer in April 2021.
The Series A financing will enable Sorriso to advance SOR102 into clinical trials and advance its early stage pipeline through preclinical development.
Mr Chin said in a statement: "The ability to modify the course of disease with orally available biological treatments has huge implications for inflammatory diseases of the gut. In IBD, SOR102 is uniquely positioned as the only orally-administered biologic with dual activity against two IBD disease drivers, both of which are clinically validated and therefore significantly de-risked targets. We are excited to be supporting a management team with whom we have worked successfully in the past to realise the potential of Sorriso’s platfrom in what is our third addition to the Arix portfolio this year.”
