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The Dublin-based biopharmaceutical company will be moving its main product for treating neurological disorders onto further clinical trials.
Biopharmaceutical firm GH Research has raised $125m in a Series B round to push further into trials of its drug for treating depression.
The round was led by Boston firm RA Capital, which specialises in health and life sciences, and RTW Investments, another US health-focused investor. There was also participation from BVF Partners and several other investment firms.
GH Research, founded in 2018 in Dublin, is developing a drug called GH001 for treating depression and other psychiatric and neurological conditions. It said its drug has the potential to lead to “rapid and durable remissions in depression”.
The drug, which is made with a psychoactive substance from the tryptamine class, has just completed Phase 1 trials. It is in further trials with more patients, including those with treatment-resistant depression. The company hopes to market the drug to patients as a daily dose.
“GH001 has the potential to establish a new paradigm in the treatment of a range of mental diseases,” Florian Schönharting, chair of GH Research, said late last year on the completion of the Phase 1 trials.
GH Research’s other product is GH002, an injectable treatment. It said that it plans to move that drug into clinical trials as well while it explores other methods for drug delivery.
The company will be investing the new funds in trials and ongoing development. The large figure for a Series B round is typical for pharma start-ups, which require much higher levels of capital to finance costly research and trials.
A number of other backers also invested in the company as part of the round, including Acuta Capital Partners, Boxer Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Deerfield Management Company, Logos Capital, Surveyor Capital, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners and Verition Fund Management.
