Verdiva Bio Launches with $411M Series A to Challenge the Obesity Drug Market
October 23, 2024
Verdiva Bio, a new clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on obesity and cardiometabolic disorders, has launched with an oversubscribed Series A financing of $411 million. The round is co-led by Forbion and General Atlantic, with participation from RA Capital Management, OrbiMed, Logos Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, and LYFE Capital.
Founded in 2024 and headquartered in London and San Francisco, Verdiva was built around a pipeline of next-generation therapies licensed from China-based Sciwind Biosciences — acquiring global development and commercialisation rights outside Greater China and South Korea. The company's most advanced asset is a phase 2-ready, once-weekly oral GLP-1 receptor agonist for obesity, which Verdiva believes has the potential to be first-in-class in an oral format. Its broader pipeline also includes an oral amylin agonist and a long-acting injectable amylin agonist, both designed to complement or combine with the GLP-1 programme.
The company is led by CEO Khurem Farooq, who previously served as CEO of Aiolos Bio and Gyroscope Therapeutics, alongside a team of experienced drug developers and biotech company builders. Chairman Mark Pruzanski brings additional leadership depth to the board.
Verdiva's launch comes as the global obesity drug market enters an extraordinary phase of growth, driven by the success of GLP-1-based treatments such as semaglutide. The company is betting that next-generation oral formats and novel mechanisms — particularly amylin-based approaches — will represent a meaningfully differentiated opportunity in a crowded but rapidly expanding field.
Wouter Joustra, General Partner at Forbion, and Brett Zbar, Managing Director and Global Head of Life Sciences at General Atlantic, said the company is well-positioned to deliver groundbreaking innovations and advance promising therapies through clinical development and beyond. The capital will fund clinical advancement of Verdiva's pipeline across multiple therapeutic programmes.
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