VALITOR: THE REAL MVP
ExSight participates in Valitor’s $28 million Series B to fund Multivalent Polymer (MVP) technology platform’s development
We are happy to announce our investment in Valitor, a biotechnology company engineering better medicines to conquer drug limitations. The U.C. Berkeley spinout raised a $28 million Series B financing, led by Morningside. ExSight joined First Spark Ventures and Morningside as new investors with participation from existing investors Berkeley Catalyst Fund and Pandect Bioventures. “We see Valitor’s MVP platform as an approach with an entirely different method to potentially achieving maximal clinical impact as compared to standard drug development techniques,” said Anthony Aiudi from Morningside.
Steven Lo has joined the company as chief executive officer. Mr. Lo, who will also serve on the company's board, is a veteran biopharmaceutical executive with over 25 years in the industry. Wesley Jackson, co-founder, president, and chief scientific officer will also be joined by chief development officer William (Sandy) White. “I am delighted to join Wes, who co-founded Valitor and previously served as its CEO, and Sandy, who has been a long-time business advisor to the company, as a member of the executive leadership team charged with advancing Valitor to its next stages of growth,” said Mr. Lo.
ExSight recently met with the new executive leadership team in Chicago for AAO. We were impressed with their chemistry, experience, expertise, and vision of Valitor's future and look forward to working together.
The funding will support Valitor's lead programs in ophthalmology and vision-threatening diseases, utilizing the company's groundbreaking Multivalent Polymer (MVP) technology platform. The company's MVP platform can combine multiple copies of bioactive molecules with individual biopolymer chains to create novel macromolecular entities designed to overcome many specific challenges for their target bioactive molecules and indications. The resulting MVP compounds can be engineered to overcome specific drug design challenges, including optimized pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, target engagement, tissue localization, therapeutic durability, and safety. These traits are uniquely suited to overcoming challenges of existing anti-VEGF antibody treatments for wet AMD, which Valitor has identified for its lead program. The company's lead candidate has the potential of enabling only a twice-yearly treatment and is currently entering IND-enabling studies.
ExSight's investment in Valitor underscores our commitment to funding innovative modalities that extend the duration between treatments. Intra-ocular biologic therapeutics are poised to grow beyond the current anti-VEGF treatments of wet-AMD. Emergent therapies will test the capacity of eye care providers to the point of inundation. ExSight's participation in Valitor's round, which complements our investment in Re-Vana Therapeutics, recognizes there should be numerous alternatives to efficiently delivering intraocular therapeutics and seeks to ease the treatment burden on patients and clinicians.
"We are thrilled that ExSight Ventures has joined Valitor as our newest investors. We look forward to working with them as we take our ophthalmology products into clinical development," stated Wesley Jackson. "It is great to have clinician investors who can offer scientific, clinical, and commercialization expertise, which will become increasingly valuable as we continue to advance the company."
Valitor's unique MVP platform has the potential to add indications beyond the eye. MVP's interchangeable bioactive molecules and biopolymers enable accelerated development of additional product candidates. The company is conducting further research to develop added pipeline candidates in oncology and rheumatology. "[O]ur platform technology can be applied to a variety of disease types, and we already have a strong pipeline behind our lead candidate," CEO Steven Lo added.
It has been a pleasure to get to know Wes and the team over the last year. Adding Steven and Sandy at this pivotal point provides critical and complementary skill sets to the executive team as the company enters its next development stage. We're thrilled to be invested in Valitor alongside Morningside, First Spark, and existing investors and look forward to providing meaningful input to the team as they advance their ophthalmology programs.