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AllRock Bio secures $50 million to advance Roc-101, a promising treatment for pulmonary hypertension, aiming to transform patient care.
The Series A funding will be co-led by Versant Ventures and Westlake BioPartners.
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AllRock Bio announced a $50 million Series A round to fund the advancement of Roc-10, the company’s leading molecule which was acquired in an exclusive licensing agreement with Sanofi.
"Today's launch highlights the value of our pan-ROCK inhibitor approach, which addresses the fundamental drivers, not just the symptoms, of cardiopulmonary diseases, beginning with PAH and ILD-PH," said Catherine Pearce, DHSc, MBA, AllRock CEO and co-founder. "In identifying this asset, we listened to KOLs and clinicians who emphasized the importance of developing a therapy that blocks the non-redundant roles of both ROCK1 and ROCK2."
ROC-101 is a first-in-class oral pan-rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension with interstitial lung disease (ILD-PH). 1 These life-threatening conditions have five-year survival rates of 57% and 38% respectively, along with limitations in disease-modifying treatments for patients suffering from either disease. ROC-101 holds potential to meet the needs of targeting inflammatory, proliferative, and fibrotic disease-associated remodeling. The treatment’s mechanism of action complements currently approved and investigational therapies within the pulmonary hypertension space. AllRock's Phase 2a ROCSTAR clinical trial aims to evaluate Roc-101 in combination with standard of care in both PAH and ILD-PH patients with an anticipated start date later in 2025.
AllRock revealed its plans for Roc-101’s Phase 1 trial data, aiming to present at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress, scheduled for September 27-October 1 in Amsterdam. The data will be presented in a poster entitled, "Results from a phase 1, randomized, double-blind, single and multiple ascending oral dose study characterizing the PK, safety, and target engagement of the Rho kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor ROC-101 in healthy volunteers."1
"The strong safety profile that ROC-101 has demonstrated in Phase I validates the transformative potential of pan-ROCK inhibition," said Alicia Levey, PhD, Venture Partner at Versant Ventures and AllRock board member. Levey continued to add, "We look forward to AllRock's near-term readouts for ROC-101 as well as progress from its expanding pipeline."1
AllRock comprised its leadership group with experienced members of biotech and pharmaceutical groups who established success in creating and leading parent and portfolio companies.The following is a list of key leaders within AllRock aiming to bring success to the startup.
One of the co-leds of the Series A funding Westlake Biopartners is familiar with the AllRock team as the two collaborated prior to this Series A funding.
"We are pleased to work with this team again in the formation of AllRock following our past successful collaboration on CinCor and bringing baxdrostat to the clinic," said David Allison, PhD, Managing Director at Westlake BioPartners. "We are confident that this team is poised to advance a truly meaningful therapeutic option to patients living with debilitating disease."
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