Alveus Therapeutics, a Philadelphia start-up treating obesity, debuted with $160M in funding
Alveus, founded in early 2024 by Philadelphia- and Belgium-based New Rhein Healthcare Investors, is trying to develop obesity treatments that are more tolerable and have greater durability.
Alveus Therapeutics, a Philadelphia start-up specializing in obesity therapies with top staff from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, made its public debut Thursday with $159.8 million in venture capital funding.
The announcement comes on the heels of a banner year for investment and acquisition activity in the weight loss arena, as venture capitalists and big pharmaceutical firms try to catch up to the enormous successes Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have had in recent years with their GLP-1 treatments.
New Rhein Healthcare Investors, based in Philadelphia and Belgium, founded Alveus in early 2024 to develop obesity treatments that are more tolerable and have greater durability. Andera Partners, based in Paris, and Omega Funds in Boston joined New Rhein in leading the Series A investment round.
“Obesity is one of the fastest-growing global healthcare challenges, and today’s therapies leave patients struggling to maintain weight loss over time,” Raj Kannan, CEO of Alveus, said. Kannan is based in Boston, according to LinkedIn.
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Alveus is headquartered in Philadelphia, the company said. Most research and development is in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company has fewer than 50 employee, split about evenly between Philadelphia and Copenhagen.
The company’s chief scientific officer and head of R&D, Jacob Jeppesen, is a former vice president at Novo Nordisk in the areas of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Brian Bloomquist, a former Eli Lilly vice president with responsibility in the diabetes and obesity treatment area, is Alveus’ chief business and strategy officer. The company’s chief technical officer is Xiao-Ping Dai, who spent some time working at the former WuXi Advanced Therapies in Philadelphia.
Alveus’ lead drug candidate was licensed from a Chinese company called Gmax Pharma, an Alveus spokesperson said. Alveus also has treatments in development that it developed internally.