Adagio Therapeutics, a US-headquartered developer of antibody-based coronavirus treatments, closed a $336m series C round today featuring biotech company Adimab and GV, a subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet.
RA Capital Management led the round, which included investment and financial services group Fidelity, Redmile Group, Federated Hermes, Foresite Capital, ArrowMark Partners, PremjiInvest, OrbiMed, Polaris Partners, Mithril, Population Health Partners and Omega Funds.
Founded in 2020, Adagio is developing treatments for coronaviruses, and its lead product candidate, ADG20, is a single agent intended to both treat and prevent covid-19, which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
The company has begun a phase 1 study for ADG20 in healthy volunteers in addition to a phase 1/2/3 clinical trial for high-risk patients with mild or moderate covid-19. It plans to begin a third trial by the end of June 2021 studying its potential for the prevention of symptomatic covid-19.
Adagio co-founder and CEO Tillman Gerngross said: “The covid-19 pandemic continues to be a major health crisis worldwide, and even with emergency use authorisations for vaccines and antibody-based therapies, there remains a significant need for medications to treat and prevent covid-19 infection.
“We are advancing ADG20 through a rapid development strategy based on preclinical data that demonstrate its best-in-class potential for treating all known variants of covid-19 today.”
The startup launched in July 2020 with $50m from a series A round co-led by Polaris Partners and Mithril that also featured GV, Fidelity, OrbiMed and M28 Capital.
GV led Adagio’s $80m series B round four months later, with Fidelity, Polaris Partners, Mithril Capital, OrbiMed, Population Health Partners and Omega Funds also participating.
