Precision biotech firm Santa Ana Bio announced its launch with $168 million in combined series A and B funding.
Founding investor Versant Ventures led the $43 million series A round, joined by TPG's Life Science Innovations fund and GV. The $125 million series B round was led by GV, with participation from all existing investors along with new investors Access Biotechnology, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health, and RTW.
Founded in Alameda, CA, in 2022, Santa Ana Bio is developing targeted therapies for patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The firm has three programs currently advancing and two programs on track for clinical entry in 2025.
In a statement, the company explained that it employs proteomic, transcriptomic, and genomic approaches in characterizing disease-specific subpopulations to identify targets on disease-causing cell types only, with the aim of leaving healthy cells unaffected. This precision approach addresses many of the shortcomings of current biological treatments, including patient heterogeneity, safety, and response durability, the firm added.
"Precision medicines offer the ability to target defined cell types and pathways to disrupt the pathogenic biology driving disease," Peter Emtage, PhD, Santa Ana Bio CEO and board member and venture partner at Versant Ventures, said.
"By identifying pathogenic cell types and pathways, and leveraging our deep protein engineering capabilities including monoclonal, bi-specific antibodies and ADCs, we aim to expand the reach of biologics to patients across numerous inflammatory diseases," Emtage said.
