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Venture investors have long been keen backers of startups working on treatments for asthma and other respiratory ailments. Lately, it looks like activity is scaling up further.

On Tuesday, San Francisco- and London-based , a newly launched startup with an asthma drug in clinical trials, that it raised $245 million in Series A funding. , , and led the round, with additional investment from .

Aiolos plans to use the funds for phase 2 clinical trials of its lead drug candidate, AIO-001, for moderate-to-severe asthma patients. It will also pursue potential applications of the monoclonal antibody therapeutic for other conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, after securing global rights to develop and commercialize the drug outside China from .

A multibillion-dollar cohort

With its Series A, Aiolos joins a heavily funded cohort of private, venture-backed companies focused on asthma and respiratory disease. Using Crunchbase data, we put together a list of 22 startups funded in the past several quarters that have collectively raised close to $1.8 billion.

The most heavily funded company on the list is Waltham, Massachusetts-based , which has secured over $400 million in venture funding to date. On Tuesday, the company that it has collected positive interim data for the latest clinical trial of its asthma therapeutic.

Next is asthma-focused , which launched in mid-2022 with $350 million in Series A funding led by . , and . The company, which was spun off from Pennsylvania-based , is focused on an oral drug for eosinophilic asthma. , which limits airflow in the lungs.

Growing demand for therapies

While investments in asthma and respiratory therapy startups is significant, it looks rather small in comparison to the amount of money that goes into treating existing cases.

estimates in the U.S. alone for clinician labor and hospital resources. Globally, per the WTO, asthma and respiratory ailments , remain a growing threat.

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