Siteone’s $100M to bring non-opioid pain therapy into the clinic

ARTICLE | Finance

BioCentury’s Venture Report also features a new European VC fund and $60M for Akamis Bio

By Stephen Hansen, Director of Biopharma Intelligence

December 19, 2024 11:40 PM UTC

Siteone has translated investor interest in non-opioid mechanisms to treat pain and other related peripheral nervous system disorders into a $100 million series C round led by Novo Holdings. The company expects the capital to get its lead program, targeting sodium channel Nav1.8, to clinical proof of concept in pain. 

The target of the  Siteone Therapeutics Inc. program is the same as that of suzetrigine from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTX). Suzetrigine has demonstrated efficacy in multiple pain settings, including Phase III trials in post-operative acute pain indications, but on Thursday failed to demonstrate a difference from placebo in a key chronic pain indication. Siteone has a partnership with Vertex to develop Nav1.7 inhibitors to treat pain, with Siteone responsible for research and preclinical development. …