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Autoimmune biotech ai3Bio launched with a $48 million Series A round, the company announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: Its approach could help treat the root causes of autoimmune diseases versus just managing symptoms.

Follow the money: UPMC Enterprises and Ziff Capital Partners led, joined by Cockrell Interests and Tanis Ventures.

The financing gives ai3Bio runway through 2027, CEO Steve Altschuler tells Axios Pro.

The big picture: Traditional autoimmune disease drugs suppress the immune system to manage symptoms but often give patients side effects.

Newer, in-vivo therapies reprogram cells, but they require a multistep process.

How it works: ai3Bio's two platforms — STARx and T Deplete — combine an AI engine with proprietary antibody and lipid nanoparticle-based technologies.

It works to "reset the immune system" by directly targeting and eliminating disease-causing Th17 cells in vivo in one single step.

STARx uses a lipid nanoparticle to deliver mRNA that triggers a targeted, anti-inflammatory self-destruct process in Th17 cells.

T Deplete is a complementary method that uses antibodies to recruit a patient's own immune cells to clear the same cells.

What they found: Preclinical findings show the technology is effectively removing Th17 cells. 

State of play: Big Pharma is homing in on next-generation immune disease approaches that can treat multiple conditions.

AbbVie agreed to pay nearly $11 billion in June to buy Apogee Therapeutics, which makes treatments for immune and inflammatory diseases, such as atopic dermatitis.

In August, Eli Lilly said it would buy Merida Biosciences for up to $2.88 billion. Merida engineers biologics to selectively degrade disease-causing autoantibodies.

What we're watching: ai3Bio plans to file its first IND for T Deplete at the end of 2027 and begin a Phase 1 trial soon after, the company says.

A second IND for STARx is expected to be filed in 2028.

ai3Bio raises $48M Series A to treat autoimmune diseases

Its approach could help treat the root causes of autoimmune diseases versus just managing symptoms.

Illustration of a view through a microscope looking at dollar sign-shaped cells

Autoimmune biotech ai3Bio launched with a $48 million Series A round, the company announced Tuesday.Why it matters: Its approach could help treat the root causes of autoimmune diseases versus just managing symptoms.

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ai3Bio raises $48M Series A to treat autoimmune diseases

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