Tribune Therapeutics has secured €37m ($39.9m) in seed and Series A funding to propel its therapy portfolio aimed at the central drivers of scar tissue formation.
The financial boost is set to progress its lead programme, TRX-44, into trials for treating fibrotic conditions such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
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The Series A round involves a contribution of €23m ($24.8m), spearheaded by LifeArc Ventures, with participation from seed investors HealthCap, Novo Holdings, Inven2 and Innovestor’s Life Science Fund, alongside new investors Investinor and Industrifonden.
These funds will not only be instrumental in preparing TRX-44 for trials but also help in furthering additional programmes that target the cellular communication network (CCN) protein family.
Tribune is pioneering an approach that targets the downstream gatekeepers of scar formation and tissue remodelling, which could lead to more broadly applicable disease-modifying therapies.
TRX-44 is tailored to prevent the formation of scar by mimicking the function and structure of cellular communication network factor 5 (CCN5), an endogenous protein that naturally inhibits the pro-fibrotic effects of other CCN family proteins.
This strategy could address a wider spectrum of fibrotic conditions and avoid the adverse effects that hinder less targeted treatment development.
The company noted that LifeArc Ventures’ Baker and Industrifonden’s Jonathan Ilicki will be joining its board.
Tribune Therapeutics CEO Georg Vo Beiske stated: “Tribune was founded on groundbreaking discoveries about the underlying drivers of fibrosis. From the beginning, it was clear that these discoveries had far-reaching therapeutic implications.
“Advancing our programmes towards the clinic with the backing of such a strong and prestigious investor group further increases our confidence in our innovative approach to treat fibrotic diseases, many of which are fatal.”
Tribune Therapeutics, jointly founded in 2020 by Novo Holdings and HealthCap Ventures, is focused on developing medicines for fibrosis, independent of the cause, tissue or diagnosis.
