The company, launched with help from ex-Novartis executives, is targeting glutamate signaling in the brain to help treat alcohol- and cocaine-use disorders, among other indications.
Tempero Bio, a Bay Area–based biotech, has raised $70 million in Series B financing to develop therapies for substance use disorders.
The financing round, announced Monday, will push the company’s lead molecule TMP-301 through two Phase II clinical trials for alcohol- and cocaine-use disorders, on top of “Phase III-enabling activities” for other indications and formulations.
“Substance use disorders affect 48 million Americans and contribute to more than 100,000 deaths per year. We urgently need more effective treatments to help patients and families with these diseases,” Tempero CEO and President Ricardo Dolmetsch said in a company statement. “TMP-301 is a novel therapy that helps prevent relapse by targeting the underlying biology of addiction.”
Tempero was birthed from a 2020 partnership between Aditum Bio (Tempero’s continuing benefactor) and Soshei Heptares (now known as Nxera). Aditum is an investment firm run by Joe Jimenez, former CEO of Novartis, and Mark Fishman, former head of the pharma’s R&D hub, known as Novartis Biomedical Research.
Aditum funded Tempero, while Soshei licensed a suite of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu5) NAM modulator molecules, including TMP-301. These molecules modulate glutamate signaling in the brain, a pathway with potential applications in treating substance use disorders like alcohol abuse and smoking, as well as depression and certain neurodegenerative disorders.
Tempero got investigational new drug (IND) clearance for TMP-301 in early 2023, as well as a $5.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study it in cocaine use disorders.
Tempero’s latest financing round, led by 8VC with additional money from Aditum Bio, Khosla Ventures and other undisclosed participants, is another sign of biopharma’s interest in developing medical treatments for substance use disorders. A variety of companies are attempting to directly neutralize a drug, like fentanyl, and its effect on the body, while others are looking to use GLP-1 drugs to reduce cravings. Altimmune, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are all currently conducting or preparing for clinical trials targeting alcohol-use disorders using GLP-1s.
