A new biotech has come roaring to life in Wales with a $140 million series A and a lead candidate ready for phase 2 trials in major depressive disorder. Draig Therapeutics has emerged from a partnership between Cardiff University’s Medicines Discovery Institute and SV Health Investors to tackle unmet need in neuropsychiatry.
Canaan Partners, SR One, Sanofi Ventures, Schroders Capital and ICG also participated in the fundraising round, which was led by Access Biotechnology, Draig announced in a June 18 release.
“Despite numerous treatments available for neuropsychiatric disorders, a significant unmet need remains with many patients continuing to experience inadequate symptom relief and high rates of relapse,” Liam Ratcliffe, head of Access Biotechnology, said in the release. “Draig’s differentiated approach, which targets core mechanisms underlying these complex conditions, has the potential to deliver a real breakthrough for patients.”
The funding will support phase 2 trials of lead depression candidate DT-101, according to the release, which are set to begin this year. DT-101 is designed to bind to AMPA receptors in the brain and increase their ability to respond to the neurotransmitter glutamate, and has “clearly demonstrated target engagement” in a 60-patient phase 1 trial that Draig will present data from at an upcoming conference, the company said.
The fledgling biotech also plans to use the series A to push two other candidates, both GABA receptor modulators, toward the clinic in 2026, according to the release.
Draig, which means “dragon” in Welsh, hatched from the Cardiff University laboratories of John Atack, Ph.D., and Simon Ward, Ph.D., who are both founders and directors of the university’s Medicine Discovery Institute. Earlier in his career, Atack worked for the NIH’s National Institute on Aging and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals, while Ward spent time at GSK and a suite of biotech companies.
The Draig co-founders initially teamed up to form the Sussex Drug Discovery Center at the University of Sussex, before moving to Cardiff University in 2017, according to Atack’s university biography.