Caldera Therapeutics debuts with $112.5 million

Cambridge, USA-based clinical-stage biotechnology company Caldera Therapeutics, which is developing the first-in-class bispecific antibody CLD-423 for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other immunologic and inflammatory diseases, today launched with $112.5 million total capital raised and announced that the first subjects have been dosed in the Phase I trial of its lead program, CLD-423.

Caldera raised a $75 million Series A round from Atlas Venture, LAV and venBio, and most recently a $37.5 million Series A-1 round led by Omega Funds, with participation from new investors Wellington Management and Janus Henderson Investors.

The bispecific antibody - which targets the interleukin (IL)-23p19 and TL1A pathways - was licensed from China’s Qyuns Therapeutics, in a deal worth up to $545 million. Since being founded last year, Caldera has already taken the therapy, dubbed CLD-423, into a Phase I study of healthy volunteers.