Arrivo BioVentures recently announced closing an oversubscribed Series B preferred financing round, totaling $45.25 million in committed capital, bringing the total raised since the company’s inception to $100 million. And Arrivo will use the funding round to advance its first-in-class treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), SP-624, through the completion of a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial and complete a Phase 2 Proof-of-Concept study with its novel treatment to prevent patients with pancreatitis advancing to severe acute pancreatitis, RABI-767.
SP-624 is a small molecule that selectively activates the SIRT6 enzyme – which is a novel epigenetic mechanism known to modulate gene expression, metabolism and DNA repair. And recent published literature suggests that human females and males exhibit gene expression changes in opposite directions when depressed.
The results of Arrivo’s Phase 2 study with SP-624 appear to support this finding by demonstrating that female subjects on SP-624 experienced early and robust alleviation of depressive symptoms, unlike male patients in the study.
RABI-767 is a small molecule inhibitor of pancreatic lipase that is being developed for the treatment of predicted severe acute pancreatitis. And in animal models of severe, acute pancreatitis, RABI-767 stops the ongoing and highly toxic cascade of fat necrosis, preventing organ failure and death. Arrivo completed a Phase I study in healthy volunteers where RABI-767 was found to be safe and well tolerated.
Orlando Health Ventures led the Series B financing with additional investment from Solas BioVentures Emerging Healthcare Fund, L.P., Rex Health Ventures and several private investors. And as part of the financing, Arrivo added Bobby Helmedag, Managing Director of Orlando Health Ventures, to the Board.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are extremely grateful to our investors who continue to believe in our team and our promising pipeline. In addition to allowing Arrivo to complete the planned clinical trials, the funding will enable us to explore the use of SP-624 in other diseases and advance activities necessary to file a new drug application with the FDA for the treatment of MDD.”
— Steve Butts, CEO of Arrivo
“We are excited to be a part of the important work at Arrivo and are proud to have multiple, strong financial partners join us to advance these best-in-class therapies,” said Helmedag. “Oversubscribed capital fundraising is rare in today’s market, and today’s Series B closing is a testament to the strong data behind both pipeline treatments, SP-624 and RABI-767, which have the potential to change millions of patients’ lives.”
— Bobby Helmedag, Managing Director of Orlando Health Ventures
