SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Therini Bio, Inc., a biotech company aimed at developing fibrin-targeted therapies to treat inflammatory neurodegenerative and retinal diseases, today announced the close of a $36M Series A financing round. The funding round was co-led by Dementia Discovery Fund, MRL Ventures Fund, the therapeutics-focused corporate venture fund of Merck & Co., Inc., Sanofi Ventures, and SV Health Investors’ Impact Medicine Fund. New investor Eli Lilly and Company participated in the round, with all existing investors including Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), Dolby Family Ventures, and Foundation for a Better World. The Series A funding brings the total amount raised since inception to $62M.

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Top: Retina from Diabetic Macular Edema patient (fibrin in bright red); Bottom: Normal Retina; Image credit: Therini Bio

Therini Bio is developing therapeutic candidates that selectively target the inflammatory component of fibrin, in neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as in a variety of retinal diseases, such as diabetic macular edema (DME) where destructive inflammation plays a role in the disease process.

The new funding will enable Therini Bio to advance its pipeline of fibrin-targeting therapies and advance its lead antibody THN391, that binds the inflammation-driving component of fibrin that is known to activate immune responses in neurodegenerative and ophthalmologic diseases. Importantly, based on our preclinical studies to date, targeting this region does not impact or diminish fibrin’s critical role in blood clotting and coagulation.

“We are thrilled to announce a top-tier investor syndicate, which will allow us to advance our groundbreaking work in developing fibrin-targeted therapies for diseases driven by chronic inflammation,” said Michael Quigley, Ph.D., President and CEO of Therini Bio. “This funding will enable us to accelerate the development of our lead antibody program targeting inflammatory fibrin in neurodegenerative and retinal diseases. We look forward to advancing our first candidate, THN391, into clinical trials, and expect to announce key safety and proof of mechanism clinical data by the end of 2024.”

“We are thrilled to invest in Therini Bio and support their innovative first-in-class approach in developing therapies that selectively target inflammatory fibrin,” said Houman Ashrafian, BM BCh, DPhil, Managing Partner, SV Health Investors. “Therini Bio’s approach in optimizing humanized antibodies to target fibrin inflammatory signals without affecting critical clotting functions is groundbreaking, and we look forward to working with the team to advance development of these potentially novel therapies for patients.”

“Loss of vascular integrity, fibrin deposition and subsequent chronic inflammation are known risk factors in the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Therini Bio is targeting the root cause of chronic inflammation by developing a targeted monoclonal antibody that reduces fibrin-mediated inflammation in the vasculature of the brain, inhibiting the activation of microglia, immune cells in the brain,” said Howard Fillit, M.D., Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). “The Company is well-positioned to make a significant impact in the fight against Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases with this potentially novel biological approach to inflammation.”

Additionally, Therini Bio was awarded a $3M non-dilutive funding grant in 2021 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Aging (NIA), which will provide $1M of preclinical research funding to advance the Company’s Alzheimer’s disease program each year through 2024.

About Therini Bio, Inc.

Therini Bio is a biotech company aimed at developing fibrin-targeted therapies to treat inflammatory neurodegenerative and retinal diseases. The Company is developing a pipeline of potential first-in-class therapies targeting toxic fibrin accumulation. The foundational science was licensed based on technology discovered in Katerina Akassoglou, Ph.D. laboratories at the Gladstone Institutes at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and formerly the University of California San Diego (UCSD). For more information, visit www.therinibio.com.

NIH Disclosure

Research reported in this release was supported by the NIA of the NIH under Award Number U01AG073125. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

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