The series B funding round will support the clinical development of its lead product, STMC-103H. The candidate is in development for allergic asthma, food allergy, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis and prevention of allergic disease.
Siolta has completed a Phase 1b safety trial in adults, adolescents and children for STMC-103H; and is scaling manufacturing to support phase 2 studies. It has also received Fast Track designation from the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The latest round of capital will support clinical proof of concept (POC) trials testing the efficacy of the product; with two such trials due to take place over the next three years.
Treatment and prevention
Siolta Therapeutics was founded in 2016 by Susan Lynch, PhD (University of California at San Francisco, UCSF) and Nikole Kimes, PhD (Siolta, formerly UCSF) in partnership with Samir Kaul (Khosla Ventures). Siolta’s live biotherapeutic product (LBP) platform is designed to develop microbiome-based medicines and diagnostics for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases in targeted populations.
In terms of prevention, the platform could help those at high risk.
“For prevention, we are focusing on early intervention for high-risk infants – for example familial history of allergic disease,” Nikole E. Kimes, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Siolta, told BioPharma-Reporter.
“The idea is that our LBP acts as an immunomodulator that can increase immune tolerance and potentially block the atopic march (development of atopic dermatitis in the first year, followed by food allergy, and later asthma) that often occurs in these children.”
While the technology hopes to be able to target a number of allergic diseases, asthma is the key focus for the company at this time. The company notes that some 26 million people are affected in the US alone – with around 330 million affected globally.
“Our ultimate goal is to alleviate asthma, and we are proposing to do that through disruption of the atopic march earlier in disease progression,” said Kimes. “Rather than focusing on the downstream symptoms of asthma, our product and approach are designed to impact the underlying immunological cascade associated with allergic asthma. In doing so, there is also the potential to impact the allergic diseases that present prior to asthma, such as atopic dermatitis and food allergy.”
Latest funding round
The series B funding involved participation from investors and venture firm, including series A investors Khosla Ventures and Marc Benioff; as well as new investors Seventure (Health for Life Capital Fund), SymBiosis, and Global Brain (Kirin Health Innovation Fund/GB-VII).
“This funding allows us to push ahead in establishing the clinical relevancy of an early intervention approach that not only treats established disease, but also allows for the potential of preventing disease," said Kimes.
“We are one step closer to bringing tailored, clinically differentiated microbial therapeutics to the market.”
Siolta Therapeutics recently welcomed John Martin, PhD and former CEO/Chairman of Gilead, as an executive advisor; and Rich Shames, MD, an experienced drug developer and successful clinical scientist, as Siolta’s Chief Medical Officer.