Biotech Briefs: Apnimed, SonoThera, Ethyreal Bio & More
The latest from small and Emerging Pharma companies featuring Apnimed, SonoThera, Ethyreal Bio, City Therapeutics and Treeline Biosciences/Standard Biotools.
For news on the large and mid-sized bio/pharmaceutical companies, see Global Briefs.
* Apnimed Appoints New CEO
* SonoThera Raises $125 M To Advance Development of Ultrasound-Mediated Nonviral Genetic Medicines
* Ethyreal Bio Raises $101 M To Advance mAb for Thyroid Eye Disease
* RNAi Specialist City Therapeutics Raises $100 M
* Treeline Biosciences, Standard Biotools To Merge
Apnimed Appoints New CEO
Apnimed, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage bio/pharmaceutical company focused on oral therapies for sleep-related breathing diseases, has announced the appointment of Kevin Lind, currently President and CEO of Longboard Pharmaceuticals, as CEO, effective June 2, 2026, as part of a planned leadership transition. He succeeds company founder Lawrence G. Miller, MD, who had served as CEO since 2018 and will transition to Vice Chair of the Board.
Source: Apnimed
SonoThera Raises $125 M To Advance Development of Ultrasound-Mediated Nonviral Genetic Medicines
SonoThera, a San Francisco, California-based bio/pharmaceutical company focused on genetic medicines, has raised $125 million in a Series B financing round to advance its lead programs, respectively for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive genetic disorder that causes muscle degeneration and weakness, and for treating autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, an inherited condition that causes small fluid-filled sacs/cysts to develop in the kidneys.
SonoThera has a proprietary ultrasound-mediated delivery technology and a proprietary payload engineering platform that supports DNA and RNA therapeutics, gene editing, and gene-silencing approaches. With these technologies, the company is developing targeted, redosable genetic medicines designed to address limitations of conventional gene therapies, including delivery challenges, payload-size constraints, immune responses, safety events, and the inability to redose.
Source: SonoThera
Ethyreal Bio Raises $101 M To Advance mAb for Thyroid Eye Disease
Ethyreal Bio, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based bio/pharmaceutical company focused on thyroid diseases, has launched with $101 million in in Series A funding.
Ethyreal’s lead program, ETHY-001, is a monoclonal antibody designed to block autoantibody-mediated activation of the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor, the shared pathogenic driver of Graves’ disease and thyroid eye disease.
Source: Ethyreal Bio
RNAi Specialist City Therapeutics Raises $100 M
City Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based bio/pharmaceutical company focused on RNA interference (RNAi)-based medicines, has raised $99.5 million in Series B financing for advancing its RNAi therapeutic pipeline. The company recently initiated a Phase I clinical trial of CITY-FXI targeting Factor XI for the treatment of thromboembolic diseases.
Source: City Thereapeutics
Treeline Biosciences, Standard Biotools To Merge
Standard BioTools, a Boston-based bio/pharmaceutical company, and Treeline Biosciences, a Watertown, Massachusetts-based bio/pharmaceutical company, have agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the second half of 2026, the combined company is expected to operate under the name Treeline Biosciences.
Since its founding in 2021, Treeline has brought three programs into Phase I development with a fourth planned clinical entry in 2026. These clinical-stage programs address molecular targets in oncology and have expected interim data readouts starting in 2027. Three additional programs are expected to enter the clinic in 2027 and 2028 in oncology, neurology, and immunology.
The combined company will be helmed by Josh Bilenker, MD, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Treeline. Dr. Bilenker previously founded and led Loxo Oncology through the development of three FDA-approved medicines and its $8-billion acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company.
Source: Treeline Biosciences
