Woodland Hills-based Acelyrin Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that acquires and accelerates the development of therapies from other promising firms, rather than developing proprietary research. The business model has contributed to the company’s significant funding rounds and recent momentum.
“It’s all about the people,” Acelyrin Chief Executive Officer Dr. Shao-Lee Lin said, referring to how the company’s acquisition-based business model reflects the team it has so far put together.
For example, Lin brings years of experience in therapeutic development across multiple companies while Acelyrin President Robert Carey provides expertise in corporate and capital fundraising strategies. The two biopharma veterans were previously part of the management team at Horizon Therapeutics, where they had a leading hand in tripling the market cap of the publicly traded biopharmaceutical company which now has a value of $20.9 billion.
“Bob and I co-founded Acelyrin together, really, with the business model in mind, because it speaks to our complementary skill sets,” Lin said. She added that she and the team want Acelyrin to stand the test of time and that they have no intention of building a company that will be partially developed and then flipped.
Ultimately, Lin said, she and Carey want to build fully integrated research and development into the company, as well as commercialization capabilities.
“We thought that the best way to jumpstart that would be to start with our strengths, like focusing within the context of one of our core expertise, which is immunology, like focusing on later stage development, which is something that our teams and I have done,” Lin said.
Top fundraiser
So far, Acelyrin’s team and business strategy have been successful in conducting business and securing funding.
In November, the company announced that it secured $250 million in Series B financing. The funding Acleyrin received was the most by any local biotech firm in 2021 according to Ahmed Enany, chief executive of the Southern California Biomedical Council in Los Angeles.
The closest any local company came to Acelyrin’s $250 million financing round was Westlake Village-based Capsida Biotherapeutics. Last April, the company secured a $140 million investment via $50 million in Series A funding and an upfront $90 million collaboration agreement with AbbVie.
Alongside its Series B announcement, Acelyrin also shared that it entered a licensing agreement with Swedish biotech company Affibody AB for Izokibep, a late-stage inhibitor that treats inflammatory diseases.
Acelyrin obtained global rights to Izokibep except development and commercialization that will be controlled by Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. in select Asian countries, such as China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan and commercialization by Affibody in Nordic countries.
The financing received by Acelyrin will be allocated to fund further licensing and acquisitions and accelerate the development of Izokibep.
“We are about identifying and then licensing or acquiring candidates that we think have the potential to be transformative for patient populations, and then accelerating the development and commercialization of those potentially transformative therapies,” Lin said.
Acelyrin is looking for win-win scenarios when scouting other companies for licensing or acquisition opportunities, according to Lin. She added that when it comes to Acelyrin holding up its end of the bargain, the team asks itself how it can create value that was not there before.
“What we hope that we bring to the table is twofold,” Lin said. “Both the experience to develop a program aggressively, if you will, and efficiently, and also to bring the capital to the table to be able to do that.”
The company’s strategy slightly changes when dealing with larger pharmaceutical companies that have different needs compared to smaller firms with less firepower. Acelyrin wants to be thought of by big pharmaceutical firms as an extension of themselves, particularly one that can bring flexibility and push therapies to patient populations, according to Lin.
“That’s kind of how we think about all of this, you know, ‘How do we create value? What’s the right thing to do for patients? And how do we get there sooner rather than later?’ Because there are people out there who need us,” Lin said.
Acelyrin has about 20 employees and is committed to headquartering in the Los Angeles region as part of its agreement with Series A investors. Some employees are already based in Los Angeles.
There is currently no physical headquarters for the company, but according to Lin, Acelyrin will look for one in the second half of the year. The company has a Post Office box in Woodland Hills, which serves as the headquarters address for now.
“We remain extraordinarily excited to be here as part of the L.A. biotech hub,” Lin said. “We really think that we are reaching critical mass, bringing in new people, bringing in new dollars and hoping that we’re making a difference.”