Advancing research from institutions including Harvard, kidney disease-focused Goldfinch Bio now has its sights on clinical trials.
Goldfinch Bio, a US-based kidney disease medication developer co-founded by faculty from multiple research institutions, yesterday closed an oversubscribed $100m series B round led by Eventide Asset Management.
Biopharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences, Wellington Management Company, Ally Bridge Group, Casdin Capital, Irving Investors, Yonjin Capital and Schroeder Adveq took part in the round.
Funds and accounts managed by BlackRock also participated, as did undisclosed additional institutional investors.
Founded in 2016, Goldfinch Bio hopes to deliver kidney disease treatments to address the toxicity and non-specificity prevalent with existing drugs.
The company has two active programs: GFP-887, aimed at kidney diseases associated with proteinuria and progressive renal dysfunction, and GFB-024, indicated for rare and metabolic kidney diseases.
Goldfinch Bio will allocate proceeds to fund up to three clinical studies on both candidates, including a phase 2 trial of GFP-887 in mid-2020, in addition to its discovery and preclinical drug programs.
Joy Ghosh, senior research analyst at Eventide Asset Management, will join the company’s board of directors.
Incubator Third Rock Ventures launched Goldfinch Bio four years ago with $55m in series A funding, with Gilead Sciences adding $5m of funding in May 2019 as part of a strategic partnership deal.
The founding team includes ex-Harvard Medical School (HMS) faculty member Peter Mundel serving as senior vice-president of biology.
Scientific founders from HMS also include Joseph Bonventre, the Samuel A Levine professor of medicine, Friedhelm Hildebrandt, professor of paediatrics, and Daniel MacArthur, an assistant professor who focuses on analytic and translational genetics.
The aforementioned co-founders additionally hold various appointments at Harvard University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Stefan Somlo, professor of genetics and chief of the nephrology section at Yale University, also helped found the company.
