Aldena gains US$30M investment from Medicxi to pioneer “radical new” immuno-dermatology

17 Mar 2023 --- Biotechnology company Aldena Therapeutics has received financing worth US$30 million by Medicxi to advance siRNA-based therapies for dermatological indications, which will lead to “long-lasting therapies” for skin diseases.

The project is led by Thibaud Portal, CEO and dermatology industry veteran, joined by Nobel Prize Laureate, Craig Mello, Ph.D., as the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).

The company’s technology has the potential to capture the full value of systematically validated Mode of Actions (MOA) through radical new transepidermal delivery of proprietary siRNAs. This will enable researchers to know how a substance has an effect on the body on a cellular level.

In the pipeline
Aldena has six compounds in the pipeline with three of them to be filed for Investigational New Drug.

These target the unmet medical need in conditions like Atopic Dermatitis, Vitiligo, Alopecia Areata, Psoriasis and other inflammatory diseases.

“The most influential way to make a lasting impact in the life science community is to create pioneering, effective products that address the unmet medical need of patients,” says Mello.The project will target conditions like Atopic Dermatitis, Vitiligo, Alopecia Areata, Psoriasis and other inflammatory diseases.

“I am delighted to chair this multidisciplinary and highly experienced Scientific Advisory Board, where engineers, scientists and medical professionals come together to develop innovative, dermatological products for the benefit of millions of patients.”

Experts gather
Specialists within dermatology – Lars French, MD, PhD; Jonathan Silverberg, MD, PhD, MPH; and Anastasia Khvorova, PhD, will join as founding advisors on SAB.

“We are delighted to collaborate with leading scientists from Georgia Tech and UMass to create Aldena Therapeutics, a company based on its truly disruptive approach to immuno-dermatology,” adds Francesco De Rubertis, co-founder and partner at Medicxi, member of the board of directors of Aldena.

“Aldena brings together a phenomenal team of leaders with expert knowledge to develop transformative and long-lasting therapies for many dermatology diseases.”

John Harris, MD, PhD and Mark Prausnitz, PhD will serve as SAB’s strategic resource to establish Aldena’s efforts to expand its pipeline of dermatology products.

“Their deep and diverse expertise across the fields of siRNA research and development, of advanced drug delivery solutions and of development of groundbreaking dermatologic products, will be immensely valuable as we continue to advance our pipeline,” adds Thibaud Portal, CEO at Aldena Therapeutics.

Skin health in spotlight
Skin microbiome company, Sequential Skin and Johnson & Johnson this week reached a collaborative agreement to “quantify skin health.” The partnership will enable Sequential Skin to develop new methods of non-invasive genomic-based skin testing.

A Poland-based study found that the herbal flower Serratula coronata is a source of phytoecdysteroid compounds, which can be used to develop formulations for skincare with anti-inflammatory benefits.

Bridging more than three millennia of Eastern botanical knowledge with modern-day cosmetic science, scientists are investigating the skin health benefits of medicinal plants from the Chinese pharmacopeia using artificial intelligence.

By Venya Patel

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