Tortugas Secures $106 Million to Advance Phase 2 Development of CNS Drugs, Including TRTL-107
Experienced Leadership and Significant Funding
Tortugas Neuroscience, founded by veteran executives Jeff Jonas and Al Robichaud (formerly of Sage Therapeutics), has successfully raised $106 million in combined seed and Series A funding. This achievement, despite the inherent challenges in CNS investment, highlights the importance of proven leadership in attracting capital. The funding round, led by Cure Ventures and The Column Group, provides the emerging biotech with a strong financial foundation to focus on clinical development.
Phase 2 Pipeline Acquired from Asian Pharma Companies
Tortugas has in-licensed a total of four Phase 2 assets from Eisai (Japan) and Hansoh Pharmaceutical (China), two from each company. Unlike typical early-stage biotech startups focused on initial discovery, Tortugas has adopted a 'de-risked' strategy by acquiring mid-stage clinical assets that have already undergone preliminary validation in other markets. This approach is considered a successful model, demonstrating how promising assets from Asian companies can be rapidly integrated into a pipeline for the US market.
Key Pipeline Assets Targeting Schizophrenia and Tinnitus
One of the in-licensed assets from Hansoh Pharmaceutical is TRTL-107, a candidate for the treatment of schizophrenia. TRTL-107 acts as a dopamine D2/D3 partial agonist and a serotonin 5-HT2A antagonist. Designed to overcome the extrapyramidal side effects of existing standard of care (SOC) treatments, TRTL-107 is expected to be competitive in the $7.8 billion to $12.5 billion schizophrenia market. Another in-licensed asset, a GABA receptor positive allosteric modulator (GABA PAM), targets the $2.8 billion tinnitus market, which currently lacks FDA-approved therapies.
Targeting Epilepsy and Reversible Encephalopathies
The GAT-1 inhibitor, in-licensed from Eisai, is being developed for the treatment of focal epilepsy. It is designed to increase GABA concentrations in the synapse, thereby effectively controlling seizures. This asset aims to provide a new treatment option for patients with focal seizures, representing a $2.5 billion segment of the overall $12.5 billion epilepsy market. The PDE9 inhibitor, also in-licensed from Eisai, targets reversible encephalopathies, an area with no approved therapies, demonstrating Tortugas' commitment to developing treatments for rare diseases.
Innovation in the CNS Market and Long-Term Investment Prospects
The approval of Bristol Myers Squibb's (BMS) Cobenfy for schizophrenia in September 2024 has reshaped the valuation landscape for CNS therapeutics. Tortugas plans to prioritize the completion of Phase 2 clinical trials for TRTL-107 and the tinnitus treatment with the $106 million raised. As the company progresses into later-stage clinical development, opportunities for additional out-licensing agreements or mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are anticipated. Investors should closely monitor the company's clinical progress and data readouts.
From an investor's perspective, Tortugas' successful fundraising of $106 million for Phase 2 assets positions the company to capitalize on the growing trend of M&A activity in the CNS market, as demonstrated by BMS's Cobenfy approval and Karuna's $14 billion acquisition. The clinical data generated by Tortugas will be a key driver of the company's valuation. From a researcher's perspective, TRTL-107's novel mechanism of action, combining dopamine D2/D3 partial agonism and serotonin 5-HT2A antagonism, and the validation of the synaptic transmission pathway through the Eisai-licensed GAT-1 inhibitor, will provide valuable insights for the development of next-generation treatments for brain disorders. For industry professionals, Tortugas' in-licensing strategy, which leverages assets from Eisai and Hansoh to mitigate development risk, represents a potential new trend for North American biotech companies. In the short term, the company aims to complete Phase 2 trials for its schizophrenia and tinnitus assets, and in the long term, it plans to establish a global presence through licensing agreements and joint ventures.
Source: FierceBiotech (rss)