Gates Foundation, Gilead and Others Drop $55 Million on Series B for Lyndra Therapeutics

Lyndra Therapeutics, based in Watertown, Mass., announced the closing of a Series B financing round worth $55 million. All original investors from the $23 million Series A round led by Polaris Partners were involved. New investors include HOPU Investments, Gilead Sciences, Invus, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Orient Life. The funds raised will be used to advance the company’s lead product into Phase II clinical trials, expand its Phase I pipeline, and scale-up its manufacturing capacity. It expects to submit an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for a long-acting pill for schizophrenia this year with plans to start a Phase II trial in 2020.
Lyndra focuses on reformulating drugs that are used daily into once-a-week or even monthly dosages. Extended-release drugs currently on the market generally deliver drugs for 12 to 24 hours. Lyndra’s technology allows for the slow release of active ingredients over time. The pills are about the size of a fish-oil capsule. Their size and shape slow digestion to about a week, where they then break into smaller pieces and pass through the gastrointestinal tract. They are also working on formulations that last longer.