SAB-05

Pictured: 3d illustration of antibodies attacking virus cell in the bloodstream iStock/Christoph Burgstedt Immunology-focused biotech Santa Ana Bio announced Thursday that it has launched with a $168 million war chest to advance two of its programs into the clinic next year designed to treat inflammatory diseases. Founded in 2022, the Alameda, Calif.-based biotech emerged from stealth with both Series A and B financing rounds. Santa Ana’s $43 million Series A was led by founding investor Versant Ventures and included TPG’s Life Science Innovations fund and GV. The company’s $125 million Series B was led by GV and included new investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health, RTW and Access Biotechnology. Santa Ana plans to use a proteomic, transcriptomic and genomic approach to find disease-specific subpopulations with targets on “disease-causing cell types” only that aim to leave healthy cells unaffected. The approach seeks to address shortcomings in current biological treatment, such as heterogeneity, safety and durability. The company contends that the vast majority of biologics in autoimmune diseases target cytokines, which are the messengers for disease but not the root causes, while current treatments don’t discriminate between diseased and healthy tissues. The biotech is advancing three programs, including SAB01, which is bi-specific and blocks c-Kit only in the presence of an undisclosed anchor target. Santa Ana plans to start Phase I trials next year in chronic inducible urticaria, a common inflammatory skin condition that causes itchy bumps. Santa Ana plans to advance other candidates, including SAB03, which agonizes PD-1 and is intended to suppress high, medium and low-expressing PD-1 pathogenic T cells. Phase I testing will also start next year in a variety of severe inflammatory conditions. The startup also has an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) program, dubbed SAB05, which uses a novel technology for antibody-glucocorticoid conjugates, with this approach designed to safely harness the therapeutic effect of glucocorticoids with the goal of not causing any collateral damage associated with the drugs. However, Santa Ana did not provide a timeline for when this asset will enter clinical testing. “Precision medicines offer the ability to target defined cell types and pathways to disrupt the pathogenic biology driving disease,” Santa Ana CEO Peter Emtage said in a statement. “By identifying pathogenic cell types and pathways, and leveraging our deep protein engineering capabilities including monoclonal, bi-specific antibodies and ADCs, we aim to expand the reach of biologics to patients across numerous inflammatory diseases.” Santa Ana has emerged from stealth as the immunology and inflammatory (I&I) space continues to heat up. Biogen purchased Human Immunology Biosciences in May 2024, paying $1.15 billion upfront and $650 million in potential milestones. The deal adds candidates for treating IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and primary membranous nephropathy (PMN) to Biogen’s pipeline. In April, Vertex Pharmaceuticals acquired Alpine Immune Sciences for $4.9 billion and Bristol Myers Squibb inked a $1.8 billion, multi-year collaboration with Repertoire Immune Medicines. The global immunology market is projected to grow from $103.2 billion in 2024 to $257.4 billion by 2032. Tyler Patchen is a staff writer at BioSpace. You can reach him at tyler.patchen@biospace.com. Follow him on LinkedIn.