NASH newco Cirius raises $40M in series A

Liver company Cirius Therapeutics Inc. (Kalamazoo, Mich.) raised $40 million in a series A round led by Frazier Healthcare Partners and Novo A/S (Hellerup, Denmark). New investors Adams Street Partners and Renaissance Venture Capital Fund also participated, as did existing investor Hopen Life Sciences Ventures.

The company is enrolling patients in the Phase IIb EMMINENCE trial of MSDC-0602K, a next-generation insulin sensitizer, to treat non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver fibrosis. Cirius said the candidate, which is designed to have an improved safety profile compared with first generation sensitizers such as pioglitazone, could be part of a combination therapy approach to treat NASH...