A stealth biotech from repeat collaborators has assembled the latest industry megaround.
New York-based NILO Therapeutics has put together a $101 million Series A, Tim Kutzkey, a board member and managing partner at The Column Group, confirmed in an email to Endpoints News.
The biotech is working on new treatments for undisclosed autoimmune diseases and is backed by TCG, DCVC Bio and Lux, according to job postings. The three firms have worked together on other companies, like targeted protein degradation startup Plexium.
Charles ZukerColumbia University neuroscience and biochemistry professor Charles Zuker co-founded NILO. He previously co-founded other TCG- and Lux-backed biotechs Kallyope and Cajal Neuroscience, among others. Some former Kallyope scientists have moved over to NILO, according to the LinkedIn bios of employees.
NILO’s scientists hope to “modulate immune responses via activation of neural circuits,” according to job postings. In a recent paper, Zuker and colleagues demonstrated how pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines talk with various vagal neurons to tell the brain of oncoming inflammatory responses. They found that activating a body-brain circuit “affords neural control of immune responses” as opposed to genetic silencing, which would lead to “out-of-control inflammatory responses.”
“We used single-cell RNA sequencing, combined with functional imaging, to identify the circuit components of this neuroimmune axis, and showed that its selective manipulation can effectively suppress the pro-inflammatory response while enhancing an anti-inflammatory state,” the researchers wrote in the paper, published May 1. The findings could lead to new treatments for autoimmune diseases, cytokine storm and shock, they wrote.
The company’s researchers are creating inflammatory animal models to test out its platform and validate various targets. The startup seeks to “discover novel biology,” too. NILO was founded this year, according to an SEC filing.
Autoimmune diseases, part of the broader inflammatory and immunology field, is one of the buzziest R&D areas in biotech right now with the influx of a series of multibillion-dollar buyouts, large licensing deals, cell therapy’s move into the space and new startups that have emerged to address large patient populations either left behind by existing treatments or who no longer benefit from current medicines.