Arda Therapeutics, a pioneer in targeted cell depletion therapies for chronic diseases, announced the successful completion of a $43 million Series A financing round. The round was led by existing investor Andreessen Horowitz (a16z Bio + Health), with participation from Two Sigma Ventures, RV Invest, Eli Lilly and Company, GV, Biovision Ventures, Valhalla Ventures, Indicator Ventures, Alumni Ventures, LifeLink Ventures, Mana Ventures, Gaingels and ExitFund.
For decades, the dominant approach in drug development has been to modulate individual proteins and signaling pathways to ameliorate disease. While this strategy has yielded some success, it often leads to limited efficacy and incremental gains, particularly for complex chronic diseases. Arda Therapeutics is pursuing a novel alternative by depleting the cells that drive disease rather than modulating the activity of the proteins they produce.
“Arda is at the forefront of a paradigm shift in treating chronic diseases,” said Adam Freund, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Arda Therapeutics. “By focusing on the cells at the core of disease, we can develop therapies that are not only more effective, but also have the potential to fundamentally change patient outcomes. With drug approval rates declining and efficacy improvements stalling, Arda’s strategy to target cells—not pathways—offers a transformative shift in how chronic diseases are treated. With the support of our Series A investors, Arda is well positioned to progress our lead programs toward the clinic and expand our platform to tackle even more disease areas.”
Arda’s sophisticated single-cell-based discovery engine identifies the specific pathogenic cells responsible for disease and their surface markers with unprecedented precision. This approach enables the development of targeted biologics that selectively eliminate harmful cells while preserving healthy tissue, leading to significantly greater efficacy and fewer side effects compared to conventional treatments. Arda’s platform has broad applicability across a wide range of diseases, including fibrotic conditions such as pulmonary fibrosis, as well as autoimmune and metabolic disorders.
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“The field of oncology therapeutics has been focused on tumor cell clearance as a mechanism of action for decades. Many of our most potent cancer medicines – chemotherapy, CAR-T cells, antibody drug conjugates, T cell engagers, radiopharmaceuticals – fundamentally depend on our ability to identify pathogenic, or bad actor, cell populations and then target them precisely for killing,” said Vineeta Agarwala, M.D., Ph.D., general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. “Arda is taking the ‘oncology toolbox’ outside of oncology. Applying the lessons learned from oncology, the Arda team is leveraging cutting-edge, single-cell biology and a deep understanding of the biology of diseases outside cancer to boldly extend the cell clearance paradigm to the treatment of chronic diseases.”
Scott Turner, Ph.D., appointed to Chief Scientific Officer
In addition to the financing, Arda announced the appointment of Scott Turner, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer. Scott joins Arda after serving as chief scientific officer of Pliant Therapeutics, where he led the creation of the company’s fibrosis discovery platform and biomarker research, culminating in a successful Phase 2a study for Bexotegrast, an anti-fibrotic therapy. At Pliant, Scott promoted the use of single-cell data to dissect drug mechanisms of action and played a critical role in developing innovative fibrosis models and biomarker strategies that advanced several clinical programs. His leadership helped secure over $500 million in financing, including an IPO. Scott received a B.A. from UC Santa Cruz and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Arda at such an exciting time,” said Dr. Turner. “The team has built an impressive platform for targeting pathogenic cells with precision, which holds tremendous potential for addressing the unmet needs in chronic disease. I look forward to working closely with the team to advance our lead programs toward the clinic and develop innovative therapies that can make a meaningful impact on patients’ lives.”
“We are very excited to have Scott on the team,” said Rèmi Laberge, Ph.D., co-founder and chief technology officer of Arda. “His deep expertise in fibrosis drug discovery will be instrumental as we drive our programs forward. I look forward to collaborating with him to push the capabilities of our cell depletion platform to the next level.”
Source: Businesswire