Moonwalk Raises $70 Million to Develop Obesity Treatments Using Chinese Technology

U.S. biotech company Moonwalk Biosciences raised $70 million and outlined plans to advance an obesity treatment into clinical trials.

According to BioPharma Dive on the 8th, Moonwalk, based in California, raised $70 million in a Series B round. The investment was co-led by Alpha Wave Global and YK Bioventures, with participation from Eli Lilly, Gaorong Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures and Future Ventures.

Moonwalk is developing obesity treatments using RNA interference (RNAi) technology licensed earlier this year from Suzhou Sirnaomics Biotechnology in China. CEO Alex Aravanis said, “We analyzed the epigenome to identify new targets, but RNAi therapeutics offer a faster path to clinical trials.”

The company is building a pipeline of small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics targeting fat cells. Its first candidate, MW101, is expected to enter human clinical trials by the end of 2027. The company plans to follow with siRNA therapeutics targeting obesity and cardiometabolic diseases.

Aravanis said the company’s technology is not an appetite suppressant, unlike glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) obesity drugs. “The mechanism increases fat metabolism and breakdown, as well as energy regulation within fat cells,” he said, adding that it could avoid gastrointestinal side effects and help preserve muscle.

Few biotech companies are developing nucleic acid therapeutics for obesity and metabolic diseases. Adarx Pharmaceuticals recently filed for an initial public offering (IPO), and Wave Life Sciences is conducting a midstage clinical trial of its siRNA drug WVE-007 in people with obesity. Wave’s drug targets the liver, unlike Moonwalk’s technology, which regulates fat cells.