Setara Biosciences announced a completed $90 million Series A on October 30 to develop drugs spun out of Actio Biosciences' sale to Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Its lead program is preparing for patient trials in an inherited nerve disorder and overactive bladder.
Jazz completed the acquisition on September 15 for $820 million upfront, gaining ABS-1230, an experimental treatment for KCNT1-related epilepsy. Jazz also received a minority stake in Setara, whose financing backers include Deerfield Management, Canaan and Droia Ventures.
Setara's lead candidate, STAR-0871, was previously called ABS-0871. The experimental pill is designed to block TRPV4, a cellular channel that becomes overactive because of mutations causing Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2C, or CMT2C. The inherited nerve disorder can weaken limbs, vocal cords and respiratory muscles.
Actio began testing the drug in healthy volunteers in March 2025. Setara says that part of Phase 1 is complete and plans a Phase 1b study in CMT2C patients in 2027. It also plans a Phase 2a trial in overactive bladder, extending the same drug into a more common condition.
In an interview with BioPharma Dive, Setara co-founder David Goldstein said CMT2C presents a harder measurement problem than epilepsy: weakness affects several muscle groups, complicating assessments of whether a treatment improves patients' function.