Windward Bio has landed with a flurry of announcements, circling in a $200 million series A and offering up to $970 million biobucks for licensing rights to Kelun-Biotech and Harbour BioMed’s clinical-stage monoclonal antibody.
The newly emerged Swiss biotech’s series A financing was led by OrbiMed, Novo Holdings and Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities, with participation from six other industry investors, according to a Jan. 10 release.
The money will help fund Windward’s mission of improving treatment options for advanced immunological diseases and progress its discovery pipeline of bispecifics. More specifically, the cash is designed to carry two undisclosed programs through investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies.
Windward is also developing clinical-stage WIN378, an mAb the biotech picked up in a deal with from Kelun-Biotech and Harbour BioMed, according to a separate Jan. 10 release.
The biotech paid the co-developers $45 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments—using both cash and equity interest in Windward’s undisclosed parent company—to gain exclusive global rights to the asset, excluding China and select smaller markets in Asia.
Windward is offering the partners the chance to receive a total of up to $970 million, plus royalties, with all payments to be doled equally to Harbour and Kelun.
The licensed candidate is an anti-thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) mAb that has the potential to only be dosed every six months, according to the release. Windward is prepping a phase 2 trial to evaluate WIN378 in severe asthma and anticipates an initial readout by next year. The company is also drawing out plans for additional trials in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
“Our mission in starting Windward Bio is to discover and develop novel therapeutics for people living with serious immunological conditions,” Windward CEO, founder and chair Luca Santarelli, M.D., said in the release. “Targeting the TSLP ligand is a highly validated approach in multiple immunological conditions, and WIN378 represents a significant advance in TSLP therapy by enhancing the benefits of this class with a dosing regimen of every six months, which can reduce the burden of treatment and improve outcomes for people living with severe asthma.”
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