Nimbus clinches $125M raise via big donor-backed private financing round following Bristol Myers' TYK2 approval
More than a year after raising $105 million in a private financing round, Nimbus Therapeutics is back with its next haul as it considers its next steps, thanks to Bristol Myers Squibb.
The computational chemistry biotech, co-founded in 2009 by VC Bruce Booth, announced its most recent financing round Monday worth $125 million — Nimbus’ fifth big financing in the last seven years.
CEO Jeb Keiper tells Endpoints News that the financing will support Nimbus’ entire pipeline, including its lead candidates and preclinical efforts. At the biotech’s forefront is its TYK2 program, which is currently in a Phase IIb study for psoriasis. And according to Keiper, the biotech is running hot in its attempt to get its TYK2 drug past the regulatory finish line — courtesy of Bristol Myers beating them to the punch with its own TYK2 drug just last week, now branded as Sotyktu, for psoriasis.
The additional bonus with this particular approval is that there was no black box warning handed out, a more prevalent effect of drugs related to the JAK family.
While Keiper said that Nimbus had been bullish about BMS’ deucravacitinib and its odds of success, he touted investor optimism in Nimbus, adding, “I think the group of investors behind this financing is really excited that we believe we could have the best in class molecule.”
Nimbus’ ongoing Phase IIb study, currently enrolled with 250 or so patients, will have a readout by the end of the year, with plans to start a Phase III trial in psoriasis next year. Beyond psoriasis, Nimbus will be pursuing the completion of other Phase IIb trials in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and active psoriatic arthritis on top of other autoimmune indications like IBD and lupus.
Other candidates in Nimbus’ pipeline include an HPK1 inhibitor, which is currently in Phase I/II clinical trials.
The round includes two new investors: Bain Capital Life Sciences and SV Health Investors. Other previous investors tagged along, including Access Biotechnology, Atlas Venture, BVF Partners L.P., Bill Gates, Lightstone Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, RA Capital Management and SR One.
When asked about the possibility of an IPO — thanks to RA Capital’s repeated investments and the proclivity of RA-backed biotechs to eventually jump towards Nasdaq — Keiper noted that the company will “never say never” in the context that an IPO has not been ruled out. However, the CEO added that a jump to Nasdaq isn’t something that the company is currently planning on.
