Bob Azelby. (Eliem Photo)

New funding: Eliem Therapeutics raised $60 million to further development of its therapies for pain and depression. The fresh funding comes just two months after Eliem raised a $80 million round.

The pipeline: Founded in 2019, the company has two lead drug candidates in development: ETX-810 for chronic pain and ETX-155 for major depressive disorder, hormone-related mood disorders, and focal onset seizures. Both are in Phase 2a clinical trials.

ETX-810 is described as an investigational non-opioid that uses the palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) pathway to influence neuroinflammation and pain signaling. ETX-155 is an neuroactive steroid that acts as a GABAA positive allosteric modulator (PAM), which can treat seizures, anxiety, and more.

Leadership: The startup is led by former Juno Therapeutics exec Bob Azelby, who is Eliem’s president and CEO. He was previously president and CEO of Seattle biotech firm Alder BioPharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Lundbeck for $1.95 billion in 2019. Azelby was also chief commercial officer at Seattle-based Juno, which was acquired by Celgene for $9 billion in 2018.

The company’s founders include Andrew Levin, managing director at RA Capital Management and chairman at Eliem, and Valerie Morisset, chief scientific officer who was previously an exec at Convergence Pharmaceuticals.

Investors: Intermediate Capital Group led the latest round. RA Capital Management, Access Biotechnology, Samlyn Capital, Acorn Bioventures and LifeArc are among the other backers.

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