Comanche Biopharma Corp have announced the closing of an oversubscribed $75 million Series B financing to advance its mission to develop and make globally available the first treatment targeting a root cause of preeclampsia.

Existing investors GV (Google Ventures), F-Prime Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), and Longview Healthcare Ventures participated in the Series B round, joined by new investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA), who led the round, and Atlas Venture. Concurrent with the Series B raise, Scott Gottlieb, M.D., Partner on the NEA healthcare investment team and former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and David Grayzel, M.D., Partner at Atlas Venture, have joined Comanche’s Board of Directors.

Preeclampsia is a prevalent and serious pregnancy complication that affects approximately 10 million women globally each year. It can lead to serious complications for both the mother and the baby, including multi-organ damage, seizures, and premature birth. Currently, delivery of the baby, often very prematurely, is the only available option for stopping the progression of preeclampsia.

Scott Johnson, M.D., Chief Executive Officer at Comanche Biopharma, commented, “We are thrilled to have the support and validation of this top-tier investor syndicate. Preeclampsia’s detrimental impact extends well beyond the immediate health of mother and baby, affecting families, healthcare systems, and communities around the world. For the first time, we are able to target a root cause of this disease, potentially ameliorating its significant consequences and, in the process, take an important step toward improving the maternal health crisis, ensuring safer pregnancies, and delivering benefits that resonate across multiple facets of society globally.”

Scott Gottlieb, M.D., a partner at New Enterprise Associates and newly appointed board member to Comanche Biopharma, said, “This medicine is the culmination of decades of scientific research that supports this novel approach to treating preeclampsia. The investment will enable us to advance the drug through a comprehensive series of clinical trials, aiming to determine its safety and effectiveness in addressing this serious and life-threatening pregnancy condition. Complications associated with pregnancy cause far too much suffering and death, and we believe this treatment could mitigate some of these tragic outcomes and, we hope, contribute to a broader and renewed effort in meeting these clinical challenges with innovative science, supported by new investment capital.”

Comanche plans to use the proceeds from the Series B financing to initiate a clinical study of CBP-4888, its lead siRNA drug candidate, in pregnant preeclamptic patients later this year. The company recently completed a Phase 1 healthy volunteer study in women of child-bearing age.