BRIEF—$250 million series B round for Californian company

Los Angeles-based biotech Acelyrin has completed a $250 million series B financing round led by AyurMaya, an affiliated fund of Matrix Capital Management.

The money will be used to fund licensing and acquisition of additional programs, with a focus in immunology, and to accelerate the development of lead candidate izokibep.

The company has entered into an agreement with Swedish biotech Affibody to develop and commercialize izokibep, an antibody mimetic interleukin-17A inhibitor designed to overcome the limitations of monoclonal antibodies.

Acelyrin and Affibody believe the candidate could represent a subcutaneously administered alternative to other interleukin (IL)-17 blockers.

The treatment is being enrolled in a pivotal trial in uveitis, a vision-threatening form of inflammation inside the eye, and a Phase IIb trial in axial spondyloarthritis.

Chief executive Shao-Lee Lin said the financing would help Acelyrin to “demonstrate its potential for differentiation within the class of IL-17 inhibitors, both by unlocking new indications as well as achieving differentiated efficacy in existing blockbuster indications.”

The company would also “aggressively pursue the expansion” of its portfolio, she added.