Landos Biopharma raises $10m in series A financing

Landos, founded by serial entrepreneur and innovator Dr. Josep Bassaganya-Riera, is advancing a robust pharmaceutical pipeline for autoimmune diseases toward commercialization and will partner operational efforts with Xontogeny,  a life sciences accelerator operating company led by industry veteran Chris Garabedian.

Xontogeny’s model works in synergy with partner companies to support management teams and provide expertise and strategic direction in the early stages of pharmaceutical and biotechnology development.

Current therapies for autoimmune diseases, a $100 billion market, have limited efficacy and significant side effects. Landos’ mission is to accelerate the development of safer, more effective therapeutics for painful and debilitating autoimmune diseases including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

“I’m thrilled to have Xontogeny and Chris Garabedian as a strategic and operating partner along with Perceptive Advisors as Landos’ exclusive financier in the Series A, to bring our lead product, BT-11, through initial clinical studies in 2018,” said Landos Chairman and CEO, Dr. Josep Bassaganya-Riera

“We have a committed leadership team with industry experience focused on developing oral treatments that address an unmet clinical need of patients, can disrupt the $9.2 billion per year inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) therapeutics market, and most importantly improve the lives of millions of patients living with these diseases.”

Landos will focus its development efforts in a novel target pathway called Lanthionine Synthetase C-Like 2 (LANCL2), which has shown promise for the treatment of autoimmune diseases by engaging a unique mechanism of action that exerts potent anti-inflammatory effects.

Landos’ lead product candidate BT-11 is a first-in-class, orally active, locally-acting therapeutic for treatment of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis that has shown a benign safety profile in animal models and that is advancing toward an Investigational New Drug (IND) filing.

BT-11 intercepts IBD by decreasing the production of inflammatory mediators and increasing anti-inflammatory molecules within the gastrointestinal tract. IBD impacts approximately 1.6 million Americans and 4 million people worldwide.

“Landos is an exciting company for Xontogeny to partner with as Josep and his team have produced very compelling data in animal models of IBD and have brought their lead compound, BT-11, to the cusp of clinical trials,” said Mr. Garabedian, who will serve as a Landos Board member and senior business advisor. “The properties of BT-11 are unique and well differentiated from current IBD products and we believe it has the potential to represent an advance in the treatment of both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.”

“We are extremely excited to partner with both Josep and Chris to build Landos into a global biopharmaceutical company focused on autoimmune diseases, and are convinced that the team will provide an accelerated path to compelling clinical proof-of concept for IBD,” said Joe Edelman, CEO of Perceptive Advisors.

“As the first investment in a Xontogeny portfolio company since partnering with Chris earlier this year, we believe that Landos exemplifies the company profile we aim to support – an outstanding leadership team, a lead product with a novel mechanism, strong IP, and a compelling preclinical and translational dataset that is close to the clinic for the treatment of an important disease with an unmet need for safer and more effective drugs.”

With the Series A investment, Landos plans to complete remaining IND-enabling studies, file an IND for BT-11 in 2018 and expects to complete Phase 1 clinical testing by early 2019.