Rheostat Therapeutics reeled in a $23 million series A round to develop treatments for neurodegenerative and rare diseases by targeting autophagy, the cell’s garbage disposal. The new capital will push its programs toward clinical trials, support biomarker studies and allow the startup to build its team.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Rheostat is working on small molecules that modulate autophagy, the process by which cells get rid of unwanted material, such as proteins, organelles and pathogens. It’s also taking aim at mitophagy—the autophagy of mitochondria, or how the cell clears out damaged or defective mitochondria.
“The mutations that impair these clearance pathways have been linked with multiple neurodegenerative diseases, many of which are associated with cognitive impairment like Parkinson’s disease,” Rheostat said in a statement. First up, the company is building its understanding of autophagy pathways to create drugs that “restore cellular balance.”
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“Mitophagy and autophagy represent a fundamental, powerful node of biology with the real potential to improve the lives of patients suffering from a range of neurodegenerative diseases and senescence. Our investors have provided our world-class scientific team with the funding to continue to build Rheostat and advance our programs toward the clinic,” said Joshua Resnick, M.D., Rheostat’s chairman and interim CEO.
Rheostat drew its series A from MRLV, AbbVie Ventures, Amgen Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments and Mayo Clinic, as well as from its previous backers SV Health Investors and the Dementia Discovery Fund.
It’s not the only company looking to exploit autophagy—in May, Casma Therapeutics launched with $58.5 million to develop a product engine that will identify and validate targets that induce autophagy at various stages of the process and connect them to various diseases. Casma CEO Keith Dionne did not disclose any specific indications at the time, but did say it was considering lysosomal storage disorders and liver and muscle diseases, as well as inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.