CinRx Pharma, the creator of biotechs like CinCor, which was acquired by AstraZeneca, raised another $73 million to support its current portfolio and launch startups to develop in-licensed drugs.
The Cincinnati-based company operates a similar hub-and-spoke model as BridgeBio. It said Thursday that the new funding came from existing backers, including undisclosed high-net-worth individuals and biotech veterans.
CinRx had previously reeled in about $103 million, which has been deployed into seven companies developing cardiovascular, metabolic, gastrointestinal and renal disease therapies, CEO Jon Isaacsohn told Endpoints News, and it could move into the increasingly popular immunology field.
“We’re always on the hunt for new drugs,” said Isaacsohn, who founded CinRx about eight years ago after serving in leadership roles at Teva and contract research organization Medpace.
Last year, CinRx looked at more than 100 different assets and then narrowed it down, he said.
“We are still working on some of those and others,” the CEO said. “We’re close to actually bringing in some new companies into the portfolio, but we are very, very diligent in how we do that.”
Making moves in obesity
A good portion of CinRx’s funding so far — about $50 million — has gone into CinFina, a biotech working on four obesity drugs in-licensed from Johnson & Johnson, according to Isaacsohn. CinRx owns 100% of CinFina, but it is currently raising a Series B that could bring in outside investors.
CinFina is in Phase 1 with a PYY analog named CIN-110 and is nearing the end of early-stage testing with CIN-109, which is a GDF-15 molecule that aims to help patients maintain muscle mass, a common concern for the existing GLP-1 medicines prescribed for weight loss. CIN-109 is being tested alone and in combination with Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.
Multiple biotechs are looking at muscle preservation, including AstraZeneca-funded SixPeaks Bio, BioAge Labs (which is testing an asset licensed from Amgen), Regeneron and others.
“This is not very exclusive to us. Even the big companies that are dominating the field with the GLP-1s are very aware of all the issues related to the GLP-1s, and they themselves are looking for approaches that address some of the liabilities,” Isaacsohn said, pointing to Eli Lilly’s purchase of Versanis Bio, which also aims to curb muscle loss and is expected to have Phase 2 data this summer.
CinRx is open to creating other obesity biotechs, Isaacsohn said. There is growing demand for newer mechanisms of action and therapies that can treat obesity plus complications like heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and cancer.
Earlier this month, the biotech creator also secured $40 million in additional financing for its gastroparesis biotech CinDome Pharma. Another unit, CinPhloro, is in Phase 2 with a small molecule for irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea.