Kira Pharmaceuticals, a US-based biotechnology developer focused on immune-mediated diseases, emerged from stealth yesterday with a total of $46m from investors including Sinopharm Capital, the investment arm of pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm.

The cash also came from 6 Dimensions Capital, an investment firm co-founded by pharmaceutical group WuXi AppTec, as well as venture capital firms Quan Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.

Quan Capital was identified as the lead investor by Kira, and Endpoints News reported the company had secured $18m in series A funding and $28m in a series B round.

Kira is working on treatments for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases as well as cancer. Its approach targets the complement system, a part of the immune system that has long been known to be a key driver in inflammation and tissue damage in several diseases, but which is complex and has thus far proven difficult to target.

The company plans to move three drug candidates into the clinic over the next 18 months. Its technology is based on work by Wenchao Song, a professor of systems pharmacology and translational therapeutics in the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania.

Frederick Beddingfield, Kira’s CEO, said: “Kira’s founding team has developed an intelligent drug discovery platform driving the development of novel compounds with the ability to overcome the challenges of complement drug discovery and modulate the complement system in new and thoughtful ways.

“I am honoured and excited to join Kira on its mission to advance several first-in-class therapies for the benefit of patients in desperate need of treatment options.”

The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.

Kira Pharmaceuticals, a US-based biotechnology developer focused on immune-mediated diseases that is exploiting research from University of Pennsylvania, emerged from stealth yesterday with a total of $46m in funding.
The cash came from 6 Dimensions Capital, an investment firm co-founded by pharmaceutical group WuXi AppTec, and Sinopharm Capital, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm, as well as VC firms Quan Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.
Quan Capital was identified as the lead investor by Kira and Endpoints News further reported the spinout had secured $18m in its series A and $28m in a series B round.
Founded in 2017, Kira Pharmaceuticals is working on treatments for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases as well as cancer.
Its approach targets the complement system, a part of the immune system that has long been known to be a key driver in inflammation and tissue damage in several diseases. However, the complement system is complex and has been proven difficult to target thus far.
Kira plans to move three therapies into the clinic over the next 18 months. The spinout is based on work by Wenchao Song, a professor of systems pharmacology and translational therapeutics in the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania.
The company also appointed Frederick Beddingfield in conjunction with its public launch. Beddingfield was previously the founder and chief executive of now-defunct Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, which focused on inflammatory and immune-mediated skin diseases, and is also an associate clinical professor at University of California, Los Angeles.