SiteOne Therapeutics is powering up with $100 million to advance its early pipeline of non-opioid therapeutics that target the peripheral nervous system instead of the central nervous system.
The biotech’s series C financing was led by Novo Holdings with participation from OrbiMed, Wellington Management, Mission BioCapital, BSQUARED Capital and other unnamed existing investors, according to a Dec. 18 release.
The California-based biotech will channel the new funds into a pipeline of small molecules with the aim to treat sensory hyperexcitability disorders such as chronic cough, pain and itch.
The $100 million is expected to advance an undisclosed number of SiteOne’s selective ion channel modulators through clinical proof-of-concept studies, while also funding the early development of other ion channel modulators.
“Our strategy is focused on owning the action potential, the fundamental unit of electrical signaling in the peripheral nervous system,” SiteOne CEO and co-founder John Mulcahy, Ph.D., said in the release.
SiteOne’s lead program is a sodium channel inhibitor that targets NaV1.8, a voltage-gated channel that plays a role in pain sensation. A voltage-gated ion channel is the main molecule generating electrical signals in cells, with the NaV1.8 channel primarily located in the peripheral nervous system.
SiteOne believes its program could provide meaningful pain relief while reducing side effects and the risk of abuse that are tied to the current standard of care, which focuses on the central nervous system. The biotech will also explore inhibiting the NaV1.7 channel.
One of the biggest players in biotech’s non-opioid landscape is Vertex Pharmaceuticals, with an FDA approval decision for its nonaddictive oral pain treatment slated to arrive by or before Jan. 30. The investigational drug, dubbed suzetrigine, is designed to selectively block NaV1.8 currents.
The candidate beat placebo in two late-phase clinical trials, improving pain intensity in the 48 hours after patients underwent tummy tucks and bunionectomies. However, suzetrigine failed to beat opioids in the bunionectomy trial, with patients who received Vicodin seeing greater pain relief.
The phase 3 findings come after Vertex discarded two other NaV1.8 inhibitors based on early clinical data.