Vedana Therapeutics has emerged from stealth with $46 million in series A financing aimed at advancing the company’s subcutaneously delivered antibodies for migraine prevention.
The financing was co-led by Westlake BioPartners and Canaan Partners and also included participation from Dawn Biopharma and Alexandria Venture Investments, according to a June 17 release.
Anurag Agarwal, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Vedana, joined the company after a decade of experience as a venture capitalist at Osage University Partners. He noted that calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antibodies were a major step forward in preventing and treating migraines, but said Vedana is focused on next-generation treatments. “We are now focused on what comes next—targeting biology beyond CGRP, like PACAP (pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide) and combinations thereof, to deliver on our vision of migraine freedom for all patients,” he said in the release.
CGRP is a messenger protein in the nervous system that is released in excess during a migraine attack, causing blood vessels in the brain's outer lining to dilate and triggering severe inflammation and pain. PACAP is a neuropeptide that widens blood vessels and transmits pain signals.
Despite the progress made by CGRP medicines, two-thirds of patients are still unable to control their migraines, Vedana says. The biotech’s lead program is an anti-PACAP antibody, while its second program is a bispecific antibody targeting both PACAP and CGRP that is designed to treat patients who have not found relief with monotherapies. Both are in preclinical testing, according to Vedana’s website, with first-in-human studies expected to begin next year.
“Vedana was founded by a team that has spent years developing antibody therapies against CGRP and PACAP, giving us deep insight into both the promise and the limitations of existing approaches,” said Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Leon Garcia, Ph.D., in the release. “Drawing on that experience, we designed the next generation of highly potent, long-half-life antibodies, targeting self-injecting options for patients in the convenience of their home.”
Vedana is not alone in pursuing a PACAP-focused migraine treatment. Danish biopharma Lundbeck is looking to deliver the first PACAP-targeting migraine therapy and reported in February that its intravenous monoclonal antibody met the primary endpoint of a phase 2b migraine prevention study. Multiple doses of the experimental treatment demonstrated a statistically significant difference compared with placebo in reducing the number of monthly migraine days.
Later that month, RA Capital-backed Slate Medicines raised $130 million to develop migraine therapies that include a monoclonal antibody from Chinese biotech DartsBio Pharmaceutical. The anti-PACAP therapy is set to enter a phase 1 study in mid-2026.