The company’s launch is backed by an oversubscribed Series A round of $411m co-led by Forbion and General Atlantic. RA Capital Management, OrbiMed, Logos Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures and LYFE Capital also participated.
Verdiva intends to pioneer next-generation oral and injectable treatments for obesity and other cardiometabolic disorders with first-in-class or best-in-class potential. A particular focus is on once-weekly oral GLP-1 and amylin therapies for weight loss.
The company’s drug development pipeline centers around harnessing emerging knowledge of gut-brain biology to advance novel therapeutic options that are more patient friendly.
“People living with obesity and its complications deserve better options at each stage of their treatment journey, including oral therapies with less frequent dosing regimens, the potential for improved efficacy and tolerability, and innovative combination therapies in pursuit of healthier weight loss and, equally importantly, maintenance of metabolically healthy weight,” said Khurem Farooq, CEO of Verdiva Bio.
Drug pipeline
The company’s lead asset, VRB-101, is an oral glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist with first-in-class potential as an oral treatment delivered once per week. The drug candidate demonstrated best-in-class potential in a P1 study; it is currently ready to enter P2 clinical trials.
“Our most mature program has the potential to be a first-in-class, once-weekly oral treatment for obesity and weight loss maintenance that could dramatically improve patient access and affordability,” reported Farooq.
Verdiva’s pipeline also includes a once-weekly oral amylin agonist, with potential use as a monotherapy or in combination with VRB-101, and a long-acting dual amylin and calcitonin receptor agonist (DACRA) that is delivered subcutaneously. Both drug candidates are currently at the preclinical stage.
Verdiva secures pharma veteran as its CMO
Dr Mohamed Eid joined Verdiva Bio as CMO from Boehringer Ingelheim, where he was head of clinical development and medical affairs for cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic medicines in the US.
Previously, Dr Eid held senior clinical, medical, and regulatory roles at Novo Nordisk.
“We are excited by the potential of our innovative, investigational medicines,” commented Eid on Verdiva's pipeline. “These programs represent next-generation potential against multiple targets and are anticipated to improve treatment adherence and offer a more sustainable solution for maintaining weight loss."
"By applying our clinically validated, oral delivery technology, we are confident that we can deliver highly efficacious and well tolerated therapies at markedly lower doses," he added.
Investors weighed in on the company’s prospects:
Brett Zbar, managing director and global head of life sciences at General Atlantic, noted that with a proven leadership team and a pipeline of potential next-generation oral therapies, his team believes Verdiva Bio is “well-positioned to deliver groundbreaking innovations and advance these promising therapies through clinical development and beyond.”
