Draig Therapeutics Closes $65M Series B for Depression Drugs

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Draig Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company based in Cardiff, Wales, has closed an oversubscribed $65 million Series B led by Deep Track Capital. Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, British Business Bank and Jefferson Life Sciences joined the round.

The financing brings total funding to $205 million, reached a little more than a year after the company came out of stealth.

Draig develops therapies for neuropsychiatric disorders, with major depressive disorder as its main focus. Its oral small molecules target the glutamate and GABA pathways, working on highly specific AMPA and GABAA receptor modulators.

Proceeds will speed up development of DT-101, its experimental treatment for major depressive disorder, through two ongoing Phase II studies. The money also covers planned clinical entry for two additional pipeline assets.

The company was co-founded as a spinout from Cardiff University’s Medicines Discovery Institute by Professors Simon Ward and John Atack, both directors of the institute.