SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 22, 2024--
Rubedo Life Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing first-in-class therapies targeting senescent cells which drive age-related diseases, today announced the closing of a $40M Series A financing round. The round was led by Khosla Ventures and Ahren Innovation Capital, with participation from Hevolution, R42, Modi Ventures, Cerigo Investments, Shanda Group, Refactor Capital, LongeVC, Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), and other investors.
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The funding will be used to advance the company’s lead candidate RLS-1496 in chronic atopic dermatitis and chronic psoriasis, which will be entering Phase 1 studies. Rubedo is also developing additional therapies that selectively target senescent cells in pulmonary diseases with significant unmet medical need, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), with a program recipient of a substantial CIRM grant last year.
“We’re delighted to attract this top-tier syndicate co-led by Khosla Ventures and Ahren Innovation Capital. This significant influx of financing will allow us to advance our first clinical candidate into human studies,” said Marco Quarta, CEO & Co-Founder of Rubedo Life Sciences.
“As people live longer, improving quality of life is paramount,” said Alex Morgan, Partner, Khosla Ventures. “Rubedo is targeting senescent, or aging, cells that drive age-related diseases. This first trial can bring us another step closer to achieving better healthspan.”
“Our mission is to invest in transformational companies that will change the world for the better, serving vast markets,” said Alice Newcombe Ellis, Founding & General Partner, Ahren Innovation Capital. “We believe that Rubedo’s transformative approach to targeting senescent cells is an impressive step towards the development of chronic age-related therapies, which will advance biotech from treatment to prevention or disease reversal.”
“The significant experience and capital that our investors bring to Rubedo will help the company rapidly advance our programs,” said Ali Siam, Chief Business Officer, Rubedo Life Sciences. “We look forward to working with these leaders, whose vast experience in clinical development will be invaluable as we enter the next phase of growth at Rubedo.”
Rubedo’s Alembic™ drug discovery platform enables the identification of specific druggable targets for development into therapeutics that selectively target pathologic cells, such as various types of senescent cells, that drive the process of biological aging. Senescence is the process by which a cell ages and permanently stops dividing but does not die. Any cell can potentially become senescent. Over time, large numbers of senescent cells can build up in tissues throughout the body and release pathologic factors. When they reach a critical mass, they cause chronic inflammation and damage leading to fibrosis and tissue degeneration which drive many age-related diseases.
About Rubedo Life Sciences
Rubedo Life Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company developing a broad portfolio of innovative therapies engineered to target cells which drive chronic age-related diseases. Our proprietary ALEMBIC™ drug discovery platform has engineered novel first-in-class small molecules designed to selectively target various types of senescent cells, which play a key role in the progression of pulmonary, dermatological, oncological, neurodegenerative, fibrotic and other chronic disorders. The Rubedo leadership team is composed of industry leaders and early pioneers in chemistry, technology, and life sciences, with expertise in drug development and commercialization from both large pharma and leading biotech companies. The company is based in Sunnyvale, CA. For additional information, visit www.rubedolife.com.
Rubedo Life Sciences scientists. Photo credit: ALESSANDRO GANDOLFI
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah officials denied clemency Friday to a man who is set to be executed for the stabbing death of his girlfriend’s mother in 1998.
The decision regarding the fate of Taberon Dave Honie, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection Aug. 8, was announced in a one-paragraph notice from Scott Stephenson, chair of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
“After carefully reviewing all submitted information and considering all arguments from the parties, the Board does not find sufficient cause to commute Mr. Honie’s death sentence,” Stephenson wrote.
During a two-day commutation hearing, Honie asked the state parole board to commute his sentence to life in prison, saying he would never have killed 49-year-old Claudia Benn after a day of heavy drinking and drug use had he been in his “right mind.”
Honie said he wanted to continue to live to be a support for his mother and his daughter. His attorneys did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment on the decision.
Benn’s family urged the parole board to allow him to be executed, saying they have been devastated by their loss.
They described Benn as a pillar in their family and southwestern Utah community — a tribal council member, substance abuse counselor and caregiver for her children and grandchildren.
Honie, who had a volatile relationship with Benn’s daughter, broke into the victim’s house in Cedar City, the tribal headquarters of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, on July 9, 1998.
He repeatedly slashed her throat and then stabbed her. Benn’s grandchildren, including Honie’s 2-year-old daughter, were in the house at the time.
“The way he killed her, that’s just sick. ... An eye for an eye, as God says it,” Sarah China Azule, Benn’s niece, said during testimony.
Honie was convicted in 1999 of aggravated murder. The judge who sentenced him to death found that Honie had sexually abused one of the children, one of the aggravating factors used to reach that decision.
During the hearing, Honie’s attorneys presented testimony describing his traumatic childhood growing up on the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona.
His parents, like many Native Americans, had been put into into government boarding schools that were often abusive, and the defense argued that they did not learn parenting skills, were heavy drinkers and neglected Honie, who began drinking and using drugs including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine by the time he was a teenager.
But the state told the board that Honie created more trauma by killing Benn.
“Imagine the intergenerational traumas from Honie’s horrific acts trickling down through time,” Assistant Solicitor General Daniel Boyer said.
Utah has not had an execution since Ronnie Lee Gardner was put to death by firing squad in 2010.
Honie is one of six people awaiting execution in the state. The death sentence for a seventh person, Douglas Lovell, who killed a woman to keep her from testifying against him in a rape case, was overturned Thursday by the Utah Supreme Court. He will be resentenced.
After decades of failed appeals, Honie's execution warrant was signed in June despite defense objections to the planned combination of the sedative ketamine, the anesthetic fentanyl and potassium chloride to stop his heart. After Honie’s attorneys sued, corrections officials agreed to switch to pentobarbital.
One of his lawyers said previously that the defense was reviewing information regarding the change and working to protect his constitutional rights.
“Serious uncertainty still remains about the state’s last-minute execution plan,” attorney Eric Zuckerman said.
Prison officials have agreed to let one of Honie’s lawyers have access to a phone while witnessing the execution in case an emergency motion needs filing, according to a Wednesday court order.
Slevin reported from Denver, and Brown from Billings, Montana.
Death row inmate Taberon Honie looks on during the Utah Board of Pardons commutation hearing Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at the Utah State Correctional Facility, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Death row inmate Taberon Honie looks on following the Utah Board of Pardons commutation hearing Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at the Utah State Correctional Facility, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Death row inmate Taberon Honie leaves for break during the Utah Board of Pardons commutation hearing Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at the Utah State Correctional Facility, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Death row inmate Taberon Honie arrives for a Utah Board of Pardons commutation hearing Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at the Utah State Correctional Facility, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
