ReAlta Life Sciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies targeting neutrophils and complement-driven inflammation, announced a $40 million oversubscribed financing round, bringing total capital raised to over $150 million. Funding will support advancement of pegtarazimod as a potential treatment for Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE).
Advancing HIE Treatment
Capital will fund clinical and regulatory milestones, including completion of the ongoing Phase 2 STAR trial across 13 U.S. sites, top-line data readout, and an End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA. Pegtarazimod targets complement activation and neutrophil-driven inflammation, key contributors to brain injury in newborns with HIE.
Howard Berman, Ph.D., the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “Every year, thousands of newborns suffer devastating brain injury from HIE with no approved drug therapy to offer them. Rarely in a career does one have the opportunity to work on a program with this level of both scientific rigor and human urgency. This financing reflects strong conviction in pegtarazimod’s potential to change that reality. By targeting both complement activation and neutrophil-driven inflammation, which are the upstream drivers of brain injury in HIE, pegtarazimod represents a fundamentally different and potentially transformative approach. We believe that we are well-positioned to deliver on the key milestones ahead.”
Focus on Clinical Milestones
Kia Motesharei, Ph.D., ReAlta’s President and Chief Operating Officer, added, “This financing allows us to execute against key value-inflection points with a disciplined and focused strategy. We are committed to deploying this capital efficiently to generate meaningful clinical and strategic milestones. Our team is creating a new category of medicine for HIE patients where currently no drug therapeutic option is available. The financing enables us to accelerate our work toward realizing that vision. The goal here is not to provide incremental improvement, but to fundamentally change how doctors treat newborn babies who develop HIE.”