After completing a buyout transaction with The Column Group to remove it from the stock exchange, NGM Bio has raised a $122M Series A to fund a registrational study for a rare liver disease drug and a Phase II trial in hyperemesis gravidarum.
After a take-private transaction completed in April, NGM Bio announced a $122 million Series A financing Thursday led by its buyer, The Column Group.
The Column Group (TCG) acquired NGM following a rough year for the biotech. A monoclonal antibody failed in 2022 in a Phase II trial for geographic atrophy, leaving the company scrambling without the expected investor support. In April 2023, an SEC filing reported a workforce reduction of 33% of the company’s existing 75 employees. A thorough financial review led the company to determine going private was “in the best interest of the Unaffiliated Stockholders.”
This week’s financing round, which includes proceeds from a “select group of investors”, will fund both a registrational and a Phase II trial. The former will be of an engineered FGF19 analog dubbed aldafermin. Aldafermin is being tested in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a rare disease of the liver and gallbladder that causes irreparable damage to the bile ducts, leading ultimately to severe liver damage.
A Phase II trial in PSC did not meet its primary endpoint for change in alkaline phosphatase, an exploratory biomarker of the disease. However, NGM believes aldafermin has the potential to address the underlying biology of PSC.
The Series A funds will also fuel a Phase II study of a GDF15 GFRAL antagonist antibody, dubbed NGM120, for hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). HG is a pregnancy complication that affects up to 2% of pregnancies in the U.S., causing severe and persistent nausea and vomiting that can lead to serious complications.
“At the beginning of this year, we unveiled our strategy to advance clinical development efforts for two serious, rare conditions characterized by significant unmet patient need,” NGM Bio CEO David Woodhouse said, adding that the take-private transaction in April will bolster the company’s efficiency and flexibility.
There are currently no approved therapies for either PSC or HG, according to NGM Bio. The registrational PSC and Phase II HG trials are both expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2024.
