Moonwalk Biosciences pivots to RNAi obesity drugs with $70M

Moonwalk Biosciences has secured $70 million in a Series B financing round to develop RNA interference therapies for obesity. The company, which launched in 2024 with an epigenome-focused strategy, now plans to bring its lead experimental drug into human testing by the end of 2027.

CEO Alex Aravanis described the shift as an evolution. The company's scientists initially explored the epigenome for drug targets but concluded RNA interference, or RNAi, offered a faster path to the clinic. This technology can silence a gene before it produces problematic proteins.

A licensed technology and a new pipeline

Moonwalk's new approach relies on RNAi technology licensed earlier this year from Chinese firm Suzhou Siran Biotechnology. The company is building a pipeline of treatments based on small interfering RNA designed to target adipose tissue, or body fat. Its first candidate is codenamed MW101.

Though details on MW101 are sparse, Moonwalk intends to follow it with several other siRNA prospects for obesity and related cardiometabolic diseases. The company's mechanisms aim to modulate fat cell metabolism and increase lipolysis-the breakdown of fats-rather than suppress appetite.

Competitive landscape for nucleic acid obesity drugs

Moonwalk joins a small group of biotechs developing nucleic acid therapies for obesity and metabolic disorders. Key competitors include ADARx Pharmaceuticals, which recently filed for an IPO, and Wave Life Sciences. Wave's siRNA drug, WVE-007, is in mid-stage testing.

Earlier trial data for WVE-007 showed substantial reductions in fat and waist circumference, but the drug still disappointed investor expectations. Unlike Moonwalk's approach, Wave's drug targets the liver.

Differentiating from GLP-1 drugs

Moonwalk's prospects are not appetite suppressants like the dominant GLP-1 drugs. Aravanis argues this could be an advantage. He said avoiding the mechanisms of GLP-1s might help sidestep gastrointestinal side effects and aid in muscle preservation.

"Our mechanisms are around modulating, so increasing the metabolism and lipolysis, which break down fat, and the energy regulation within the fat cells," Aravanis told BioPharma Dive.

Funding and backers

The $70 million Series B round was co-led by Alpha Wave Global and YK Bioventures. It included participation from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, alongside existing investors Arch Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Future Ventures, and Gaorong Ventures. This new capital reloads the startup two years after its high-profile launch.

The company's lead candidate, MW101, remains on track for an investigational new drug application and the start of clinical trials before 2028.