OrsoBio Announces $60M Series A Financing to Advance Metabolic Portfolio for the Treatment of Obesity and Associated Disorders

Co-led by Longitude Capital and Enavate Sciences, with Significant Participation by Existing Investors Samsara BioCapital and NuevaBio

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OrsoBio, Inc. ("OrsoBio” or “the Company”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for severe metabolic disorders, today announced the successful completion of a $60 million Series A financing, bringing the total capital raised by the Company to $97 million. The financing, which will support the advancement of OrsoBio’s obesity-focused portfolio, was co-led by Longitude Capital and Enavate Sciences. Existing investors Samsara BioCapital (“Samsara”) and NuevaBio, an affiliate of the founders, and new investor Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) also participated in the round. Matthew Young of Longitude Capital and Edd Fleming, MD, of Enavate Sciences will join the OrsoBio Board of Directors, which includes Samsara representatives Srini Akkaraju, MD, PhD, and Cory Freedland, PhD.

Obesity is a global health crisis that affects over 40% of U.S. adults, resulting in a range of complications, including diabetes, NASH, cardiovascular diseases, and some cancers. OrsoBio will utilize the Series A funding to advance the development of its innovative portfolio of four programs focused on obesity and associated metabolic disorders.

• Mitochondrial protonophore portfolio: Clinical development of the liver-targeted protonophore TLC-6740 through a Phase 1b study to establish proof of concept and initiation of a Phase 2a study in patients living with obesity, and advancement of IND-enabling activities for TLC-1235, a controlled-release mitochondrial protonophore.
• TLC-3595 (ACC2 inhibitor): Completion of a Phase 2a study in patients with insulin resistance/diabetes (NCT05665751) and preparations for a Phase 2b study.
• TLC-2716 (LXR inverse agonist): Completion of a Phase 2a study in patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG)/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and groundwork for a Phase 2b program.
• ACMSD inhibitor (aminocarboxymuconate semialdehyde decarboxylase inhibitor): Selection of a development candidate for potential treatment of metabolic and inflammatory liver and kidney disorders and advancement of IND-enabling activities.

“We are thrilled to welcome our new investors and for the continued support from our existing investors,” said Mani Subramanian, MD, PhD, CEO and Founder of OrsoBio. “We are grateful for the continued trust in our team and commitment to our mission to improve clinical outcomes in patients with obesity and associated metabolic disorders. This financing is an important milestone for OrsoBio that will enable us to progress our portfolio of first-in-class compounds targeting fundamental aspects of energy metabolism towards key clinical milestones.”

“We have high conviction in the OrsoBio team, the Company’s differentiated portfolio, and its strategy to pursue complementary approaches to meaningfully impact the burden of a range of metabolic conditions that affect substantial patient populations,” said Matthew Young, Managing Director at Longitude Capital.

“OrsoBio’s commitment to addressing unmet needs in obesity, diabetes, and associated diseases aligns with our vision for transformative healthcare,” said Edd Fleming, MD, Executive Vice President, Commercialization at Enavate Sciences. “While we’ve witnessed remarkable breakthroughs in the treatment of obesity and diabetes, notably with GLP-1 receptor agonists, there remains a high unmet need for effective and safe oral therapies that are complementary to, and can be used in combination with, these agents.”

“We have worked closely with the experienced development team at OrsoBio since helping found the Company in 2020 and are proud of its track record of success and of the tremendous progress it has realized since emerging from stealth last year,” said Srini Akkaraju, MD, PhD, Founder and Managing Partner of Samsara BioCapital and founding OrsoBio board member. “I look forward to continuing to partner with the executive leadership team and new members of the Board to accelerate the evolution and advancement of the Company’s novel pipeline to improve the care of patients living with metabolic diseases.”

About OrsoBio, Inc.

OrsoBio, Inc. is a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing therapies to treat obesity and other severe metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes, NASH, and severe dyslipidemias. OrsoBio currently has four programs in clinical and preclinical development with first-in-class compounds that address central pathways in energy metabolism. For more information, please visit www.orsobio.com.

About Longitude Capital

Longitude Capital is a leading healthcare venture capital firm that invests in transformative biotechnology, medical technology, and health solutions companies seeking to improve clinical outcomes, enhance patient quality of life, and drive efficiency of healthcare delivery. Founded in 2006, Longitude Capital invests in both privately held and publicly traded companies through a variety of investment approaches. Longitude Capital has offices in Menlo Park, CA, Greenwich, CT, and Boston, MA. For more information, please visit www.longitudecapital.com or LinkedIn.

About Enavate Sciences

Enavate Sciences is a platform created by Patient Square Capital dedicated to supporting therapeutic companies advancing medicines and enabling technologies with transformative potential to address patient need. Through the application of capital support and operational experience, Enavate strives to enable and empower a diverse portfolio of therapeutics companies to accelerate innovation. To learn more about Enavate, please visit www.enavatesciences.com.

About Samsara BioCapital

Founded in 2017, Samsara BioCapital is a leading biotech investment firm focused on identifying opportunities across public and private markets. Samsara invests across the full spectrum of biotech opportunities from early-stage start-up to late-stage clinical assets. Our primary goal is to focus on finding and advising companies that will have significant impact on patients and address high unmet medical needs. Samsara works with entrepreneurs and top tier management teams that they believe will have meaningful impact on innovative therapeutics. The Samsara team has deep expertise in biotech with significant experience working together prior to founding the firm. The team is led by Srini Akkaraju who has over twenty-two years of industry experience and an MD, PhD in Immunology from Stanford University. For more information, please visit www.samsaracap.com.

For OrsoBio
Gwen Gordon
858-245-5684
gwen@gwengordonpr.com

For Samsara BioCapital
ASC Advisors
Steve Bruce / Taylor Ingraham
sbruce@ascadvisors.com / tingraham@ascadvisors.com
203-992-1230