Altesa BioSciences Secures $75 Million Series B to Advance First-in-Class COPD Exacerbation Treatment
核心洞察
Altesa BioSciences (搜索) raised $75 million in oversubscribed Series B funding led by Forbion (搜索), with participation from Sanofi and existing investors to advance vapendavir development.
The funding will support the Phase 2b CARDINAL study, a multinational trial enrolling 900 COPD (搜索) patients to evaluate vapendavir's efficacy against rhinovirus (搜索) infections.
Vapendavir represents a first-in-class oral therapeutic targeting rhinovirus (搜索), the predominant cause of respiratory exacerbations in COPD (搜索) patients.
Altesa BioSciences (搜索) announced the completion of a $75 million oversubscribed Series B financing round led by Forbion (搜索), with participation from Sanofi and existing investors including Medicxi (搜索), Pitango (搜索), and Atlantic Partners (搜索). The funding will advance vapendavir, a first-in-class oral therapeutic targeting rhinovirus (搜索) infections that drive respiratory exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD (搜索)) patients.
Addressing Critical Unmet Need in COPD Management
"There is nothing 'common' about the common cold for people with chronic lung disease," said Brett P. Giroir, M.D., CEO of Altesa and former Assistant Secretary of Health and Acting FDA Commissioner. "This financing supports advancing clinical development of vapendavir for the treatment of rhinovirus (搜索) infections, the leading cause of respiratory exacerbations in COPD (搜索) and other chronic lung conditions. Vapendavir targets the cause of inflammation and exacerbations – the virus itself."
Rhinovirus (搜索) infections represent a significant clinical challenge for COPD (搜索) patients, where even minor respiratory infections can trigger severe exacerbations requiring hospitalization and leading to long-term functional decline. According to Jon Edwards, Ph.D., Forbion (搜索) Partner, "Rhinovirus-driven exacerbations represent one of the most significant and underserved drivers of morbidity in COPD and other chronic lung diseases (搜索)."
CARDINAL Study Design and Clinical Development
The Series B proceeds will fund the CARDINAL study, a Phase 2b multinational randomized placebo-controlled trial designed to enroll 900 COPD (搜索) patients across the United States and United Kingdom. The study, expected to commence in Q2 2026, will be led by Dr. Katharine Knobil, Altesa's Chief Medical Officer and former CMO of GSK.
The trial employs an innovative design that reflects real-world care models by closely monitoring participants over time and randomizing them upon development of rhinovirus infection (搜索) to receive one of two doses of vapendavir or placebo. The primary objective focuses on assessing improvement in respiratory symptoms using established patient-reported outcomes, with secondary endpoints evaluating time to symptom resolution, quality of life, healthcare resource utilization, and lung function.
"Our trial's objective is to demonstrate that treatment of rhinovirus (搜索) respiratory infections can improve symptoms, hasten resolution of illness, and maintain quality of life, while potentially avoiding advanced medical interventions," said Dr. Knobil. "For many COPD (搜索) patients, even a simple cold can lead to an exacerbation, hospitalization, and worsening quality of life – vapendavir has the potential to change that trajectory."
Promising Preclinical Results
The CARDINAL study builds upon Altesa's recently completed rhinovirus (搜索) Challenge Study in COPD (搜索) patients, which demonstrated vapendavir's clinical potential. In this controlled human infection model, vapendavir improved upper and lower airway symptoms, reduced illness durations and inflammatory markers, and better maintained small airways lung function compared to placebo. The treatment also reduced duration of illness and viral load in experimentally challenged patients.
Therapeutic Potential and Market Impact
Vapendavir, if approved, has the potential to prevent up to 50% of COPD (搜索) exacerbations, improve quality of life, and potentially generate significant healthcare cost savings. The therapeutic approach represents a paradigm shift from symptomatic treatment to targeting the underlying viral cause of exacerbations.
While the immediate clinical focus centers on COPD (搜索), vapendavir demonstrates potential for broader application in other high-risk respiratory populations, including patients with asthma (搜索). This expanded therapeutic scope could address millions of patients suffering from chronic lung diseases (搜索) where viral infections trigger acute exacerbations.
Strategic Partnerships and Leadership
The financing brings strategic value beyond capital, with Sanofi's participation leveraging the pharmaceutical giant's expertise in COPD (搜索) therapeutics. "We are honored to have Forbion (搜索) as our lead investor, a global leader with an unmatched track record for developing companies and products across multiple therapeutic areas. In addition, Altesa will benefit greatly from the participation of Sanofi, given its ongoing expertise in COPD therapeutics," said Dr. Giroir.
In connection with the financing, Jon Edwards, Ph.D., will join Altesa's board of directors, while Moncef Slaoui, Ph.D., will transition from Board Member to Chair of the Board of Directors, strengthening the company's leadership structure as vapendavir advances into late-stage clinical development.