In a reminder of the money still on the table for enticing obesity assets, Corxel Pharmaceuticals has raised $287 million in series D funds to bankroll phase 2 studies of its oral GLP-1 receptor agonist.
Shanghai-headquartered Corxel licensed the ex-China rights to the drug, dubbed CX11, from biotech Vincentage in late 2024. Last June, Corxel arrived at a medical conference armed with data from a phase 2 trial run by Vincentage on its home turf of China that tied a high titration of the highest dose of the GLP-1 drug to a 9.7% reduction in body weight at 16 weeks.
Vincentage has already launched a phase 3 study of CX11 in China, while Corxel is running a phase 2 trial in the U.S. in patients who are overweight and with obesity. This morning’s impressive fundraise will be used to finance a planned global phase 2 study in patients with Type 2 diabetes as well as support Corxel’s plans for its own phase 3 trials.
Some of the funds will also be used for the development of Corxel’s other clinical-stage cardiometabolic assets, namely JX10, a pro-thrombolytic and anti-inflammatory drug for acute ischemic stroke, and JX09, an aldosterone synthase inhibitor for hypertension.
Previous backers RTW Investments and Hengdian Group Capital were joined in the series D by new investors such as SR One, TCGX, RA Capital Management, HBM Healthcare Investments and SymBiosis.
Roderick Wong, M.D., managing partner and chief investment officer at RTW, cited Corxel’s “clinical progress, disciplined execution and seasoned leadership team” as reasons for continued investment in the biotech.
Corxel, previously known as JiXing Pharmaceuticals, was founded in 2019 and had at one point been focused on developing Cytokinetics’ cardiac myosin inhibitor aficamten in China. However, Corxel sold those rights to Sanofi in 2024, which went on to see the drug approved in China last year. Aficamten was also approved by the FDA under the brand name Myqorzo to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy last month.
Corxel CEO Sandy Mou said the series D round is “one of the most significant milestones for Corxel since its founding,” citing the ability to accelerate global development for new cardiometabolic disease therapies and fuel the company “to a new orbit of growth.”
Recent weeks have seen no slowdown in the pace of obesity news, with Novo Nordisk finally securing its long-awaited approval for oral Wegovy. Meanwhile, Novartis paid $100 million to help strengthen its patent for an oral GLP-1 drug that came over from Carmot Therapeutics, while MetaVia reported average weight loss of 9.1% for its dual agonist of GLP-1 and glucagon.