Moonwalk to Use $70 Million to Develop RNAi Therapies for Obesity, Cardiometabolic Disease
New financing will help Moonwalk Biosciences expand its pipeline of siRNA medicines targeting adipose tissue while building out its proprietary drug discovery platform. The post Moonwalk to Use $70 Million to Develop RNAi Therapies for Obesity, Cardiometabolic Disease appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News .
Moonwalk Biosciences, a biotechnology firm, has secured $70 million in investors to develop RNAi therapies aimed at combating obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. The oversubscribed Series B funding round was led by Alpha Wave Ventures and YK Bioventures, with support from various investors including Eli Lilly and Company, Gaorong Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, and Future Ventures.
Funds from the financing will be utilized to advance lead obesity candidate MW101 into human clinical trials in late 2027, following IND-enabling studies, and to expand the company's pipeline of siRNA medicines and its proprietary discovery platform. Moonwalk's approach involves delivering siRNA therapeutics specifically to adipose tissue to modulate energy homeostasis, adipogenesis, lipolysis, and thermogenesis pathways, while minimizing impact on other tissues.
The company's proprietary adipose-targeting chemistry was exclusively licensed from Suzhou Siran Biotechnology. Preliminary studies have shown reductions in body weight and fat mass with preserved lean muscle mass, and favorable modulation of metabolic pathways in non-human primate models. Moonwalk's CEO, Alex Aravanis, emphasized that the financing brings the company closer to developing a new generation of adipose-targeted medicines for obesity and related cardiometabolic diseases.
Alpha Wave Ventures co-founder and CEO, Rick Gerson, highlighted the depth of Moonwalk's science and the strength of its preclinical evidence. The company also announced that Stephen Djedjos, a clinical development veteran with over 20 years of experience, will become senior vice president of clinical development at Moonwalk.
Written by urgent.news from GEN Biotechnology's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
