Basking Biosciences has announced the close of US$55 million in financing, which will be used to accelerate clinical development of its novel thrombolytic therapy for acute stroke.
New investor ARCH Venture Partners led the round, with participation from additional new investors Insight Partners, Platanus, Solas BioVentures and RTW Investments, as well as existing investors Longview Ventures, Rev1 Ventures, and The Ohio State University (Columbus, USA).
Steven Gillis, managing director of ARCH Venture Partners, will serve as chairman of Basking’s board of directors, as per a company press release.
“With the support and funding from our outstanding syndicate of life science investors, alongside the deep expertise of our scientific and clinical advisory board, we are eager to advance our innovative pipeline and improve patient outcomes,” said Richard Shea, chief executive officer of Basking.
Basking will utilise the proceeds to accelerate clinical development of BB-031—a first-in-class, reversible ribonucleic acid (RNA) aptamer, targeting von Willebrand factor (vWF), engineered for rapid onset and short duration of effect. In 2023, the company announced positive Phase 1 results demonstrating the safety and tolerability of BB-031 with no serious adverse events reported, and dose-dependent inhibition of vWF. Basking will initiate a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study, the RAISE trial, in patients with acute ischaemic stroke in 2024.
“Many ischaemic stroke patients have no acute therapeutic option available and there is an ongoing need for innovative new approaches to expand treatment success,” said Michael Hill (University of Calgary/Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Canada), Basking’s clinical programme advisor. “We look forward to evaluating BB-031’s potential to improve outcomes in the RAISE study.”
In addition to supporting the RAISE trial, Basking will use these recently raised funds to advance BB-025—a complementary, rapid-acting reversal oligonucleotide capable of quickly neutralising the pharmacological activity of BB-031—through a Phase 1 clinical programme.
“BB-031 is designed to be safer and more effective than available treatments, and to effectively resolve thrombosis beyond the limited therapeutic window of the currently available pharmacological option,” said Shahid Nimjee (The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA), co-founder and chief medical officer of Basking.
Basking states in a recent release that its development programme is based on two decades of translational research on RNA aptamers as therapeutic agents for cardiovascular diseases in the lab of Bruce Sullenger (Duke University, Durham, USA), a co-founder and scientific advisor for the company.
