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Nura Bio, a clinical-stage company developing therapies for neurodegenerative conditions, announced it raised a $73.8 million Series B. 

Why it matters: The funding is intended to help advance two SARM1 inhibitor programs, as SARM1 draws growing attention as a potential target for neurodegenerative diseases.

Follow the money: The Column Group led, joined by Euclidean Capital, Samsara BioCapital and Sanofi Ventures.

CEO Shilpa Sambashivan tells Axios the company will "always take calls" on future fundraises, but it is focused on clinical execution.

Nura wants to show that at least one of its drugs is safe, tolerable and affecting markers of nerve damage — before considering its next financing.

How it works: San Francisco-based Nura is developing drugs that block SARM1, an enzyme tied to axon degeneration, with the goal of protecting axons and preserving neuronal function.

The lead program, NB-4746, is undergoing a Phase 1b/2a study in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It has initiated dosing in a first-in-human study of its other program, NB-9402.

Sambashivan calls SARM1 "an exquisitely elegant enzyme, but also a very complex enzyme." 

Nura is using early studies and exploratory biomarkers to de-risk its ALS program, while acknowledging that SARM1 inhibition remains clinically unproven.

Friction point: ALS is a notoriously difficult drug-development indication because patient heterogeneity can make it harder for trials to detect whether a drug is working.

"It's unlikely that a single molecule is going to be able to capture the entirety of the therapeutic space for ALS," Sambashivan says. "But we believe we're targeting a focused mechanism. The risk is clinical novelty, human biology novelty."

Nura Bio raises nearly $74M to advance SARM1 drugs in ALS

The funding is intended to help advance two SARM1 inhibitor programs.

Photo illustration of a neural network brain surrounded by abstract money clip outs, 

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images. 

Nura Bio, a clinical-stage company developing therapies for neurodegenerative conditions, announced it raised a $73.8 million Series B. Why it matters: The funding is intended to help advance two SARM1 inhibitor programs, as <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="SARM1" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-026-02074-8" data-vars-content-id="7e27359c-ea95-4726-a453-0467c0b62c1f" data-vars-headline="Nura Bio raises nearly $74M to advance SARM1 drugs in ALS" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-026-02074-8" target="_blank">SARM1</a> draws growing attention as a potential target for neurodegenerative diseases.

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Nura Bio raises nearly $74M to advance SARM1 drugs in ALS

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