The manager of RTW Biotech Opportunities has led a $400m Series A financing round for a new portfolio company, Kailera Therapeutics. The announcement does not disclose how much of that came from the listed fund.
RTW Investments co-led the Series A with Atlas Venture and Bain Capital Life Sciences, with participation from Lyra Capital. The funding will be used to advance a portfolio of next-generation therapies for obesity and related conditions.
Kailera’s mission is to develop next-generation weight management therapies that give people the power to transform their lives and elevate their overall health. It is developing a broad, advanced, and differentiated portfolio of clinical-stage injectable and oral therapies that have demonstrated potential as best-in-class treatments for the treatment of chronic weight management. Kailera’s most advanced programme, KAI-9531, is an injectable GLP-1/GIP receptor dual agonist that demonstrated positive results in Phase 2 trials in obesity and type 2 diabetes in China.
Kailera acquired exclusive rights for global development and commercialisation of a portfolio of four metabolic disease assets outside of greater China from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd, a leading global pharmaceutical company, in May 2024. In addition to KAI-9531, the company is also advancing a diversified pipeline leveraging several mechanisms and routes of delivery, including oral administration. The company is based in Waltham, MA and San Diego, CA.
Kaliera is headed up by Ron Renaud. As CEO of Cerevel Therapeutics, he guided the company through significant milestones, culminating in its acquisition by AbbVie in 2024. Previously, Mr. Renaud spearheaded Translate Bio’s growth from an early-stage startup to a publicly traded company, establishing it as a leader in mRNA technology. As CEO of Idenix Pharmaceuticals, he streamlined operations and built a robust promising portfolio of potential treatments for hepatitis C.
RTW : RTW backs obesity drug firm
