With the scourge of he­pati­tis C un­der con­trol thanks to a slate of large­ly cu­ra­tive treat­ments ap­proved over the last decade, drug de­vel­op­ers have sharp­ened their fo­cus on hep B, which is now con­sid­ered the most com­mon se­ri­ous liv­er in­fec­tion in the world. An­tios Ther­a­peu­tics has joined the pletho­ra of oth­ers in the vi­rol­o­gy space look­ing to make head­way in the fight against the pre­ventable dis­ease, scor­ing $25 mil­lion in an over­sub­scribed Se­ries A round of fund­ing, led by life sci­ences ven­ture cap­i­tal firms Lu­mi­ra Ven­tures and Do­main As­so­ci­ates.

Found­ed by for­mer ex­ec­u­tives from hep C pi­o­neer Phar­mas­set, which was ac­quired by Gilead Sci­ences $GILD, and Idenix, which was swal­lowed by Mer­ck $MRK, An­tios is hop­ing its lead oral drug can­di­date will form the back­bone for a cu­ra­tive reg­i­men for chron­ic HBV. The pre­clin­i­cal drug is al­so be­ing con­sid­ered as a po­ten­tial treat­ment for hep D, which needs the hep B virus for repli­ca­tion.

Hep B is a lead­ing cause of chron­ic he­pati­tis, liv­er cir­rho­sis and liv­er can­cer, and is caused by the epony­mous virus that is trans­mit­ted through blood and in­fect­ed bod­i­ly flu­ids.

The virus is 100 times more in­fec­tious than HIV, but can be pre­vent­ed with a vac­cine that has been avail­able since 1982. Rough­ly two bil­lion peo­ple (or 1 in 3) have been in­fect­ed by hep B, and over 290 mil­lion are liv­ing with a chron­ic in­fec­tion. Each year, up to 1 mil­lion die, es­ti­mates the He­pati­tis B Foun­da­tion.

Ex­ist­ing treat­ments do not com­plete­ly cure the in­fec­tion, but tend to sup­press vi­ral repli­ca­tion, forc­ing pa­tients to con­tin­ue tak­ing them for life. The in­fec­tion is con­sid­ered a “silent epi­dem­ic” be­cause a ma­jor­i­ty of those that have been in­fect­ed do not dis­play symp­toms and un­be­knownst con­tribute to the spread the virus. De­spite the pauci­ty of symp­toms, their liv­ers are still be­ing silent­ly dam­aged, which can cul­mi­nate in cir­rho­sis or liv­er can­cer.

An­tios is set to a join a host of drug de­vel­op­ers that are tar­get­ing a cure for the in­fec­tion us­ing var­i­ous mech­a­nisms of ac­tion, in­clud­ing in­ves­ti­gat­ing the po­ten­tial of RNA in­ter­fer­ence and gene-edit­ing.

Oth­er in­vestors par­tic­i­pat­ing in the Se­ries A in­clude CAM Cap­i­tal, De­los Cap­i­tal, Quan­tum Vista Cap­i­tal, Fonds de sol­i­dar­ité FTQ and Geor­gia Re­search Al­liance Ven­ture Fund.

A small, Santa Ana-based biotech created in 2017 is looking to enter a SPAC deal as it lays out plans to begin trials in its lead cell therapy candidates and bring on new executives.

Graf Acquisition Corp. IV and NKGen Biotech announced Thursday, with few other details, that the two companies signed a non-binding letter of intent to “pursue a business combination.” Graf Acquisition II and III withdrew their IPOs last year.

The FDA has rejected Incyte’s extended-release formulation of ruxolitinib tablets, in a surprise setback for the company’s plans to build on its blockbuster Jakafi franchise.

The ruxolitinib XR tablets are designed to be taken once a day, whereas Jakafi is indicated for twice daily dosage (although some patients can take it once daily).

According to Incyte, the FDA acknowledged in its complete response letter that the study submitted in the NDA “met its objective of bioequivalence based on area under the curve (AUC) parameters but identified additional requirements for approval.”

Cyclerion Therapeutics may have the design of a Phase IIb study ready to go, but it’s scrambling for a way to fund it.

The company said in a press release that it’s “actively evaluating the best combination of capital, capabilities, and transactions available to it to advance the development of zagociguat,” its lead candidate for a rare, genetic mitochondrial disease known as MELAS.

In a separate SEC filing, Cyclerion once again flagged “substantial doubt about (its) ability to continue as a going concern.” As of the end of 2022, it had cash and cash equivalents of only $13.4 million.