CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Aileron Therapeutics Inc. recently secured the second tranche in its Series D financing, bringing thetotal round to $42 million.
The payment of the second tranche was based on the successfulprogression through preclinical studies of Aileron's lead stapled peptide drug, ALRN-5281. Proceeds from this tranche will be directed tothe clinical development of ALRN-5281 in patients with orphan endocrinedisorders early this year. Once it is set into motion, the ALRN-5281 clinical trialwill mark the first-ever stapled peptide human clinical trial.
Current investors Apple Tree Partners, ExcelVenture Management, Lilly Ventures, Novartis Venture Funds, RocheVenture Fund and SR One participated in the round.
"These proceeds will allow us to advance ALRN-5281 through Phase Idevelopment and continue to develop our pipeline of stapled peptidedrugs," said Joseph A. Yanchik III, president and chief executiveofficer of Aileron Therapeutics. "This is a critical next step for ourcompany, our collaborators and the emerging stapled peptide field. Weappreciate the continued support of our investors and look forward tosharing more details around our orphan endocrine disorders program whenwe initiate the Phase I study in the coming months."
ALRN-5281 was discovered and developedthrough Aileron's stapled peptide technology platform, an approach thatlocks peptides into their biologically active shape "that providesfirst-in-class pharmacokinetic profiles allowing effective delivery ofthe peptide and pharmacological profiles that resemble the naturalproteins." In preclinical studies, ALRN-5281 reportedly has demonstrated propertiesof a stable, long-acting hormone that may overcome the pharmacokineticand dosing challenges that have limited the use and safety oftraditional peptide hormones.
Aileron is also advancing stapled peptide drug candidates incollaboration with Roche, including a highly potent and specific dualinhibitor of MDM2 and MDMX for p53-dependent cancers. Preclinical datafrom this second program were recently presented at the 2012EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
