Swiss BioTech platform ASTRA Therapeutics raises €8.3 million to advance precision Parasiticides for animal health

Villigen-based ASTRA Therapeutics, a BioTech startup designing drugs against eukaryotic pathogens based on its proprietary platform, announced today they have raised a Seed funding round of €8.3 million.

The round was led by VC firm MIG Capital AG, with U.S. VC firm Digitalis Ventures as co-lead. Also participating were Borealis Ventures, Kickfund and Venture Kick. MIG Fonds 17 and 18 have allocated €3.2 million for the Swiss startup.

Natacha Gaillard, PhD, Founder and Co-CEO of ASTRA Therapeutics, said: “The animal health market is facing an ever-increasing need for novel anti-parasite drugs to combat the growing threat of drug resistance, ensure the health and welfare of our pets, and maintain healthy and efficient food production.”

Founded in 2022, ASTRA Therapeutics AG is based at the Park InnovAARE innovation campus and designs and develops novel parasitic agents (parasiticides) that control parasites by inhibiting cell division in parasites while sparing hosts. The company generates species-specific drug leads targeting tubulin, known as Parabulins, through its proprietary drug development platform ParaX.

Parabulins are novel drugs (New Molecular Entities, NME) targeting important indications in the veterinary market. ASTRA’s pipeline includes over 15 patentable chemical classes featuring nanomolar-potent candidates for common parasites such as coccidia in farm animals and heartworm in dogs and cats.

Ashwani Sharma, PhD, also Founder and Co-CEO of ASTRA Therapeutics, added: “Our platform is designed to exploit structural differences between essential proteins in parasites and the host animals, enabling creation of new drugs that should be both effective and safe.”

The global parasiticide market is worth over €8.4 billion and is growing at a CAGR of 5.6%. At the same time, established products are facing patent expiry, while increasing resistance is causing a dramatic need for new drugs – in some regions, up to 98% of heartworm cases are already resistant to standard therapies, according to ASTRA.

ASTRA believes they are strategically positioned to capture this opportunity: the company develops novel, patentable drugs that are reportedly highly potent and resistance-breaking. Target revenues are over €680 million per year for coccidiosis and €2 billion per year for worm control – in the veterinary sector alone.

“We see tremendous commercial potential for new drugs that control worms including heartworm in dogs and cats, and coccidiosis in poultry and swine production,” said Andreas Kastenbauer, Partner at MIG Capital. “With renowned structural biologists Dr Natacha Gaillard and Dr Ashwani Sharma in the lead and strong support from a team of market and business developers experienced in drug discovery, licensing and BioTech financing, this is the right company to achieve success.”

ASTRA Therapeutics is MIG Capital’s first investment in Switzerland and its second new investment this year.

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