SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.– Star Therapeutics has emerged from stealth mode today to reveal its pioneering approach to drug discovery and development in rare diseases and to spin out Electra Therapeutics, the first in its family of companies.
Star is applying expertise in rare diseases and antibody drug discovery to generate drug programs that target multiple diseases with a single therapy. All of the company’s current drug programs represent first-in-class therapies and were internally generated, starting from early discovery efforts by its experienced team. To support this innovation engine, Star has raised over $100 million in financing since its inception in 2018 from Westlake Village BioPartners, OrbiMed, Redmile Group, Cormorant Asset Management, RA Capital, Cowen Healthcare Investments, and New Leaf Venture Partners.
“We founded Star to address the significant unmet needs across the approximately 7,000 rare diseases for which there are only about 650 FDA-approved drugs, leaving inadequate treatment options for millions of patients globally. We saw a tremendous opportunity for our team of drug hunters and drug developers to unlock the limited understanding of the underlying biology and develop therapies that can target multiple diseases at once,” said Adam Rosenthal, PhD, CEO and Founder of Star. “It is rewarding to see our strategy achieve success with our clinical-stage drug program in Electra, the first in our family of companies that we have unveiled today.”
Star’s initial focus has yielded numerous antibody programs at Electra for diseases in immunology and immuno-oncology, including a lead program that has rapidly progressed into Phase 1 clinical studies. Star is planning to introduce a second company, focused on rare hematologic diseases in the near future.
“Star has a highly accomplished team with a track record for uncovering disease biology and discovering novel antibodies, as I know firsthand from working alongside several members of the team who discovered and developed sutimlimab, which was recently FDA-approved as a first-in-class treatment for a rare hematologic disease.,” said Nancy Stagliano, PhD, Executive Board Chair of Star. “This team’s ingenuity in understanding disease biology combined with world-class antibody development expertise has rapidly advanced initial ideas for drug programs, including one already in the clinic, and shows great promise for creating new medicines for patients.”
