US-based precision medicine company Character Biosciences (Character Bio) has raised $93m in a Series B funding round, co-led by new investors aMoon and Luma Group.
Other participants in the financing include new investors Bausch + Lomb and Jefferson Life Sciences, and existing investors Catalio Capital Management and Innovation Endeavors.
Character Bio intends to use the funding to advance the development of precision therapies for degenerative eye diseases, particularly age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
The company aims to support Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies for its lead candidates CTX203 and CTX114, along with the expansion of its pipeline.
aMoon partner Reut Shema said: “The Character Bio team is driving innovation forward by uniquely assembling historically siloed disciplines, spanning patient advocacy and provider partnerships, data integration and machine learning, statistical genetics and computational biology, as well as drug discovery and clinical development.”
Luma Group partner Jamie Kasuboski said: “Character is leveraging its multi-omics approach to move beyond the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to deliver first- and best-in-class therapies tailored to specific disease subtypes.
“Character’s patient-first approach is unique in its ability to identify those who are most likely to benefit from therapy, and we look forward to seeing the clinical impact of this approach with the use of proceeds from this financing.”
Character Bio is partnering with more than 150 ophthalmology centres across the US.
The company is conducting an AMD-focused study, integrating genetics with clinical and imaging data from over 6,500 patients to reclassify AMD into genetically defined subtypes.
Its data-driven approach has led to the discovery of lead candidates CTX203 and CTX114.
CTX114, a complement inhibitor, targets geographic atrophy in advanced dry AMD, while CTX203, a lipid regulator, aims to prevent progression to advanced AMD.
Both candidates are expected to enter clinical trials within the next year.
The precision medicine company is also using its AI-driven platform to expand its pipeline into other ophthalmic diseases.
Character Biosciences CEO and co-founder Cheng Zhang said: “Millions of patients suffering from degenerative eye diseases lack effective treatments that delay disease progression.
“By identifying the genetic modifiers of their disease progression, we can develop therapeutics to more precisely target the root causes of disease and improve clinical translation.
“This funding allows us to advance our lead programs into first-in-human trials, with the goal of bringing new therapies to patients who urgently need them.”
Earlier this year, Character Bio partnered with Bausch + Lomb for the potential development and sales-based milestones for novel AMD therapeutics.
