Excellergy, a San Francisco Bay Area biotechnology company, announced Monday it has raised $70 million in Series A funding to advance its pipeline of first-in-class allergic treatments. The financing will support development of the company's trifunctional Effector Cell Response Inhibitors (ECRIs), which represent a novel approach to treating IgE-mediated allergic conditions.
Novel Trifunctional Mechanism Targets Multiple Pathways
Excellergy's ECRIs are designed to combat allergic responses through three simultaneous mechanisms of action. The treatments rapidly remove IgE bound to FcεRI receptors on mast cells and basophils without triggering cell activation, deliver potent neutralization of free IgE, and accelerate downregulation of FcεRI expression.
This trifunctional approach differentiates ECRIs from existing therapies like Xolair, which only targets "free" IgE that isn't attached to other molecules. "Instead of only targeting the 'free' IgE that isn't attached to other molecules, like Xolair does, ECRIs can also dislodge IgE that's already bound to receptors without causing an immune response," said Geoff Harris, Excellergy's chief scientific officer.
The company's approach is based on research from Stanford University and the University of Bern, focusing on the structural binding of IgE to its receptor. IgE antibodies can mistakenly react to harmless substances like food or pollen, binding to cells and releasing histamines that trigger allergic symptoms.
Clinical Development Timeline and Target Indications
Excellergy plans to initiate Phase 1 trials in early 2026, with the findings informing subsequent development decisions. Food allergies and chronic skin hives (urticarias) have been identified as top targets for Phase 2 studies. "They make the most sense initially to us," said CEO Todd Zavodnick.
The chronic urticaria market has attracted significant attention from pharmaceutical companies, with large players like Novartis, Sanofi and Regeneron, as well as smaller biotechs including Evommune and Celldex Therapeutics either bringing drugs to market or developing new treatments. However, Excellergy believes its approach offers unique advantages.
"A lot of patients are being undertreated or not treated in this space, so we believe this market to be massive," Zavodnick stated.
Scientific Validation and Expert Commentary
Supporting preclinical data for ECRIs was published in October in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, demonstrating that receptor-bound IgE can be actively removed from mast cells and basophils without triggering their activation. This discovery established the scientific foundation for the new therapeutic class.
"The pre-clinical data supporting Excellergy's trifunctional ECRIs are compelling, showing a broad-spectrum attack on the IgE axis that goes well beyond conventional anti-IgE approaches," said Leonard B. Bacharier, M.D., professor of pediatrics at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "Unlike therapies that only bind free IgE, ECRIs act across multiple pathways, directly disarming effector cells through a novel mechanism distinct from classic anti-IgEs."
Leadership and Investment
The company is led by veteran biotech executive Todd Zavodnick as CEO, who brings over 25 years of experience in drug development and commercialization. Co-founder Geoffrey Harris serves as chief scientific officer, while Philip M. Brown holds the position of chief medical officer.
Red Tree Venture Capital, which seeded and launched the company in 2021, participated in the Series A round alongside Samsara BioCapital and Decheng Capital. "By leveraging well-understood IgE biology in a novel way, the company is both differentiated and advancing innovation from a pathway that clinicians and scientists already trust," said Heath Lukatch, managing partner at Red Tree Venture Capital.
"We are not here to refine the status quo. We are here to build a portfolio of category-defining assets that will advance and reset the standard of care in allergy," Zavodnick emphasized. "By directly removing IgE bound to the receptor, our first-in-class trifunctional ECRIs are engineered to shut down the allergic response at its source, something current therapies cannot achieve."
