A California-based precision immunology company, Santa Ana Bio, has emerged from stealth with a combined series A and B funding of $168 to deliver precision medicines for patients struggling with inflammatory diseases.
According to the company’s announcement, the combined capital raised comprised $43 million in a Series A funding round led by Versant Ventures and $125 in a Series B financing round led by GV.
The funding rounds included the participation of all existing investors and new investors, Access Biotechnology and a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health and RTW.
Led by a team of researchers, talented executives, and leading academic advisers and founders, Santa Ana Bio aims to deliver precise treatments for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases using cutting-edge approaches, including proteomic, transcriptomic and genomic techniques.
Santa Ana Bio’s Medicines to Target Disease-Specific Cells
Unlike most of the approaches that target cytokines (the messengers), which are not the actual causal agents, these new approaches characterize and target disease-specific agents only on disease-causing cell types without affecting healthy tissues.
By targeting defined cell types to disrupt pathogenic pathways and biology, the new approaches leveraging precision medicines can help pathologists address the common shortcomings of existing biological treatments, such as patient durability of response, safety, and heterogeneity.
Since its founding in 2022 by Peter Emtage PhD, and Danny Wells PhD, Santa Ana Bio has made significant progress, with three key programs set to enter clinical trials starting in 2025.
These programs include SAB01 inhibits c-Kit— focusing on treating allergic diseases by targeting mast cells, SAB03 agonizes PD-1 for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and Santa Ana’s SAB05 ADC program focusing on antibody-glucocorticoid conjugates.
The new approach aims to help Santa Ana Bio deliver targeted treatments with long-lasting outcomes while alleviating the collateral damage that comes with using drugs for inflammatory illnesses.
