By Kunal Das and Siddhi Mahatole
Sept 16 (Reuters) – Drug developer Sling Therapeutics said on Wednesday it had raised $123 million to advance a late-stage trial of its experimental oral drug to treat thyroid eye disease.
The disease causes inflammation and swelling around the eyes, which can lead to eye bulging and vision loss.
Here are more details:
• The privately held company said it will use the funds to study its oral drug, linsitinib, in a late-stage trial with about 130 adults who have moderate-to-severe active thyroid eye disease.
• Participants will receive either 150 mg of linsitinib or placebo twice daily for 24 weeks.
• In an earlier trial, linsitinib reduced eye bulging, meeting the study’s main goal, and also demonstrated a differentiated safety profile for concerns linked to similar treatments, including hearing problems and changes in blood sugar and menstrual cycles.
• If approved, linsitinib would become the first oral drug approved for thyroid eye disease, offering an alternative to intravenous treatments such as Amgen’s Tepezza and Viridian Therapeutics’ Lumvoa.
• Sling CEO Ryan Zeidan told Reuters that linsitinib could offer an alternative for patients whose needs are not well met by current biologics, including those concerned about hearing loss linked to Tepezza and Lumvoa or those for whom intravenous therapy is not practical.
• The Series C funding round was led by venture-capital firm Forbion, with participation from TPG Life Sciences Innovations and Sectoral Asset Management.
• Sling also appointed Regina Salvat of Forbion and François Beaubien of Sectoral Asset Management to its board as part of the financing deal.
(Reporting by Kunal Das and Siddhi Mahatole; Editing by Diti Pujara)
