Oorja Bio Emerges From Stealth With $30 Million to Advance a New Pulmonary Fibrosis Therapy
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Oorja Bio, a Houston-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has come out of stealth with $30 million in Series A financing from founding investor Westlake BioPartners. The company says it plans to begin a Phase II clinical trial in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis this year using its lead asset, ORJ-001.
Westlake BioPartners was the sole investor in the round, and no additional backers were disclosed. Oorja Bio said the capital will fund clinical advancement of ORJ-001 and support the build-out of a broader pipeline aimed at fibrotic and cardiopulmonary diseases through an in-licensing strategy.
ORJ-001 is a peptide therapeutic given subcutaneously and, according to the company, a first-in-class agonist of β1 integrin, a transmembrane protein that helps regulate alveolar epithelial type 2 cells in the lung. The drug is designed to restore the function of those AEC2 cells, promote alveolar repair, and reduce the inflammatory and fibrotic signaling that drives pulmonary fibrosis. In preclinical work using validated animal models, ORJ-001 reversed established fibrosis, regenerated normal lung and alveolar structure, and produced positive effects on biomarkers of tissue remodeling, though those findings have not yet been replicated in human trials. The company has received IND clearance from the US FDA and plans to start a Phase II trial in IPF patients before the end of 2026. Oorja acquired global rights to ORJ-001 through an in-licensing transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed. Alongside the Series A, the company also posted Phase I data showing the drug reached therapeutically relevant exposure with favorable tolerability in healthy volunteers.
Oorja Bio was co-founded by Sujay Kango, who serves as chief executive officer, and Janethe Pena, who is chief medical officer. The two previously worked together at Acceleron Pharma, where Kango was chief commercial officer and led the commercialization of Reblozyl, and where Pena served as VP of pulmonary medical research. Both were involved in the clinical development and regulatory strategy for sotatercept, the first-in-class biologic approved by the FDA for pulmonary arterial hypertension and the first such approval in a decade. After Acceleron’s acquisition by Merck, Pena continued in a cardiovascular leadership role at the company and supported the first BLA submission for sotatercept. Earlier, she served as VP of pulmonary clinical development at Bayer, contributing to the pivotal trials behind Adempas. Kango most recently was CEO of Tmunity Therapeutics before its acquisition by Gilead and currently sits on the board of Dianthus Therapeutics. Connie Coulomb joins as chief business officer, bringing 25 years of commercial and business development experience from roles at Amgen, Biogen, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, and Merck.
IPF is a chronic, progressive lung disease. Two antifibrotic therapies, nintedanib and pirfenidone, are approved and can slow functional decline, but neither stops progression or reverses damage. The disease affects more than 150,000 adults in the US and carries a median survival of three to five years from diagnosis. Several companies are pursuing novel mechanisms, including approaches targeting TGF-β, lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1, and integrin pathways, though no disease-modifying therapy has reached approval. Oorja’s focus on restoring AEC2 cells places it among a smaller group of programs targeting epithelial biology rather than downstream fibrotic or inflammatory mediators.