糖心视频

The first oral drug for eosinophilic asthma patients may be on the horizon.

Asthma-focused launched this week with $350 million in Series A funding led by . , and participated in the round.

Areteia, led by former executive Jorge Bartolome, is the brainchild of and , an equity firm that focuses on life sciences ventures.

The company was spun out of Pennsylvania-based Knopp, which published results from its phase 2 clinical trial last year that showed its oral drug candidate , which is an indication of improving lung function and is found in several asthma-related treatments.

A large market

Areteia鈥檚 news marks the largest funding round in the space of asthma- and respiratory-related startups in the past year, according to Crunchbase data. Texas-based raised $280 million in Series B financing over a period of eight months, and Massachusetts-based raised $200 million in Series A funding in June.

, which limits airflow in the lungs. estimates in clinician labor and hospital resources.

While most patients find inhaled or oral corticosteroid helpful, those products . Some patients opt to take biologics鈥攖reatments made with living organisms鈥攚hich make up .

鈥淚t has become clear that lowering the blood eosinophil count results in important clinical benefits in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma,鈥� Ian Pavord, professor of respiratory medicine at the , said in a statement. 鈥淯ntil now, we have only been able to do this with oral steroids or injected biologic treatments. The prospect of an orally active eosinophil lowering drug which is free of the adverse effects of oral steroids is compelling.鈥�

The fresh funding will allow Areteia to take Knopp鈥檚 drug candidate through phase 3 clinical trials and investigate new medicines.

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