Arialys Therapeutics, a biotechnology company based in La Jolla, California, has raised $58 million in seed funding to develop new precision medicines for autoimmune neuropsychiatry. The round was led by Avalon BioVentures, Catalys Pacific, and MPM BioImpact, with participation from Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. and Alexandria Venture Investments.
Autoimmune neuropsychiatry is a field of medicine that studies the intersection of autoimmune diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. Autoimmune diseases are caused by the body's immune system attacking its own tissues. Neuropsychiatric disorders are a group of mental health conditions that affect the brain and behavior. Arialys Therapeutics is developing new precision medicines that specifically block pathogenic autoantibodies in the central nervous system (CNS). Autoantibodies are proteins that the immune system produces that mistakenly attack healthy cells in the body. In the case of autoimmune neuropsychiatry, these autoantibodies can damage the brain and cause neuropsychiatric symptoms.
The company's lead therapeutic, ART5803, is a therapeutic antibody designed to treat anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis (ANRE). ANRE is a rare autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of the brain and can lead to psychosis, seizures, and coma. ART5803 blocks NMDAR autoantibodies, which are the proteins that cause ANRE. Arialys Therapeutics has generated promising preclinical data in a nonhuman primate disease model confirming ART5803 reverses encephalitis and decreases the behavioral symptoms caused by NMDAR autoantibody pathogenicity in the brain. The company has also received orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ART5803 for the treatment of ANRE.
Arialys Therapeutics is led by Jay Lichter, PhD, President and CEO, and Mitsuyuki “Mickey” Matsumoto, PhD, Scientific Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. The company is headquartered in La Jolla, California.
