The $49M in Series A funding will be used to develop the company’s enzyme replacement therapies for two rare diseases affecting infants and children and push the treatments into the clinic.
Biotech startup Inozyme Pharma has charged out of the starting gate with $49 million in funding and a leadership team of longtime industry veterans.
Founded in 2016, Inozyme will focus on developing novel medicines to treat rare diseases of calcification, affecting soft tissues and bone. The $49 million in Series A funding will be used to develop the company’s enzyme replacement therapies for two rare diseases affecting infants and children and push the treatments into the clinic. Inozyme’s disease targets include Generalized Arterial Calcification of Infancy (GACI), an ultra-rare, autosomal recessive orphan disease affecting infants and has a high mortality rate within the first year of life. The other disease focus is Autosomal Recessive Hypophosphatemic Rickets Type 2 (ARHR2), a rare skeletal disorder characterized by low levels of serum PPi. Both disorders are characterized by mineral imbalances that lead to over calcification of soft tissues and under mineralization of bone.
“Our mission is to develop potentially disease-modifying therapies to help children who are affected with rare, but severe and debilitating disorders of metabolism. These patients have very poor treatment options,” Axel Bolte, chief executive officer and co-founder of Inozyme Pharma, said in a statement.
The company was founded with technology developed in the laboratory of Demetrios Braddock, an associate professor of pathology, and licensed from Yale University.
Iozyme’s Series A funding was led by Longitude Capital, and included participation from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Novo Ventures and Sanofi Ventures. Bolte said the young company has attracted a “premier syndicate of healthcare investors” who will help the company and its goal of developing treatments for these rare diseases. Reinaldo Diaz, a venture partner with Longitude Capital and a board member at Inozyme, said the company has a deep understanding of calcification biology. He said the company is well positioned to advance new therapies for these ultra-orphan conditions.
Not only has the company secured $49 million the company has locked in a number of seasoned industry vets for its C-suite team. In addition to Bolte, the company tapped:
- Henric Bjarke, the former head of Alexion Pharmaceuticals’ metabolic business unit as its chief operating officer. During his time at Alexion, Bjarke was responsible for development of asfotase-alfa for the treatment hypophosphatasia.
- Steven Jungles, the former head of technical operations at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, will serve as chief technical operations officer. Jungles also served as head of contract manufacturing and supply chain at BioMarin.
- Eric Yuen will serve as chief medical officer. Yuen has developed biologics and small molecules for a variety of diseases, including rare genetic, neurology, psychiatry, pain, and oncology disorders. He has held positions at Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Ultragenyx and BioClin.
- Ruhi Ahmed will head up the company’s regulatory and government affairs. Prior to Inozyme, Ahmed held positions at Ultragenyx and BioMarin Pharmaceuticals where she worked on the MPS, XLH and PKU programs.
- Another Alexion vet, Stephen Basso, will serve as vice president of finance. As vice president of corporate finance at Alexion, Basso supported the development and commercialization of Soliris, Strensiq and Kanuma.
