RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Five years after launching with a team headlined by local life sciences “rainmaker” Steve Butts and $49 million in capital, Arrivo BioVentures is emerging from stealth mode.

The Morrisville startup, one of a string of drug development companies co-founded by Butts, says it’s now coming out of hiding with a pipeline of four drug candidates. All have the potential to be “first-in-class or best-in-class across a number of therapeutic areas,” Arrivo said in a news release.

Steve Butts. (Arrivo photo)

“The team can pursue potential products that address unmet medical needs regardless of therapeutic area,” said Butts, who founded Arrivo with partners Bill Wofford, Michael Ackermann, Ph.D., MBA, and Stanford University sleep specialist Jed Black, M.D., in 2016.

Butts and attorney Wofford were members of the management team that led successful investor exits of three previous local drug companies: Aerial BioPharma, Neuronex and Addrenex. (Neuronex and Addrenex were both supported with North Carolina Biotechnology Center loans.)

“We are problem solvers by nature, so our lens when evaluating a potential product is ‘how can we make this work?’ Butts continued. “We are also very experienced at fast and efficient drug development. We get to the answer quickly.”

Arrivo is backed by Ireland-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals, with Solas BioVentures Fund I, L.P., Rex Health Ventures, and private investors also participating.

‘Robust pipeline’

As Arrivo now emerges from stealth mode, it is disclosing promising results from a Phase 1 study with DLX-2323, its single-chain variable fragment inhibitor of IL-1.

IL-1 is a potent cytokine and an important mediator of the body’s acute and chronic immune response. Uncontrolled overexpression can initiate and exacerbate multiple autoimmune conditions.

“DLX-2323 uniquely combines high potency, specificity to IL-1, and excellent tissue penetration. Its small size also creates the potential for multiple routes of administration, which could prove important in treating certain conditions,” said Arrivo co-founder and chief operating officer Ackermann.

Arrivo logo

“[We] continue to be excited about the future for DLX-2323, and its potential across a number of diseases and disorders.

Arrivo’s most advanced development program, SP-624, is currently in a 300-patient Phase 2 study for major depressive disorder.

The company said the study is 80% enrolled, and the company expects data readout in Q3 2022.

The portfolio also includes two other promising drug candidates.

One of those is DLX-105, a topical to treat mild to moderate plaque psoriasis. Arrivo said DLX-105 is currently in a small proof-of-concept study with data readout expected in second quarter of 2022.

The fourth drug candidate is RABI-767, what it calls “potentially the first treatment for severe acute pancreatitis.

Arrivo said it has now taken over the lead from its strategic development partner, Lamassu Pharma, LLC, and the drug is entering the clinic in 2022.

(C) N.C. Biotech Center