Seattle biotech heavy-hitters cash in on $46M deal for next-generation migraine treatment
Vedana Therapeutics, a Seattle-based startup that aims to prevent migraine attacks, emerged on Wednesday with a stealth $46 million and a team of leaders in the treatment of migraine on the edge.
The new funding will allow the company to develop antibody drugs that target signaling pathways associated with migraines – which selected patients can eventually administer by injection at home.
Vedana’s mission is to become a direct migraine treatment company – and its line of leaders, board members and advisors have played a key role in this field, helping to develop antibody therapies against two types of proteins: calcitonin gene-related peptides (CGRP) and a new target called pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (CAPP).
“We need to develop medicines that will make patients not have a single day of migraine,” said Anurag Agarwal, founder and CEO of Vedana. “And that means understanding not one mechanism, but many biological mechanisms and combining them to comprehensively address this complex and diverse disease.”
Although CGRP drugs represent the first specialized migraine medications, about two-thirds of patients still suffer from this condition. Migraine attacks may cause a flurry of symptoms that occur during the day, which may include nausea, sensitivity to light and sleep disturbances; bright lights or a slight loss of vision; moderate to severe headache; and fatigue and brain fog.
Vedana’s lead drug candidate is the next generation of PACAP, and targets both PACAP and CGRP.
A mixed approach is important, said Dr. Ernesto Aycardi, chief medical officer, because “it’s not just one neurotransmitter, it’s not just one protein that causes the problem. In addition, it’s very complex from the patient’s point of view.” Patients respond to different treatments, he added, and even within a person, migraine can be caused by different causes between episodes.
The building has 14 employees. Its leadership includes:
- Agarwal previously worked as an investor at Osage University Partners, helping to conduct academic research.
- Leon Garcia, founder and chief scientific officer, previously oversaw the discovery and development of both CGRP and PACAP antibodies at Alder Biopharmaceuticals, a Seattle company that Lundbeck acquired seven years ago for $1.95 billion.
- Aycardi, the chief medical officer, previously led the clinical development of the migraine drug AJOVY at Teva.
- Dr. Rob Lenz, executive chairman of Vedana’s board of directors, is the former head of global development at Amgen, where he led the development of the competitive migraine treatment Aimovig.
While many Seattle biotech companies are often pursuing treatments created using AI tools, Vedana points to its team’s decades of experience as a major advantage.
Antibodies from organisms are “more robust than any LLMs we’ve built. These are built over billions of years of knowledge, so I would say we’re using that neural network,” Agarwal said. The company will use AI for the later stages of the drug development process, he added.
Major biotech companies marketing approved CGRP antibody therapies include Amgen, Eli Lilly, Teva and Lundbeck. In the PACAP space, Vedana faces competition from Lundbeck, Mentari Therapeutics and Slate Medicines.
Vedana’s Series A round was co-led by Westlake BioPartners and Canaan Partners, with participation from Dawn Biopharma and Alexandria Venture Investments.
Editor’s note: Story updated at 10:35 am to add additional comments from Anurag Agarwal and Dr. Ernesto Aycardi.
