Anaheim Bio, a preclinical biotech based in Leiden in the Netherlands, launched on 5 November 2026 with a €40m (about $44.9m) Series A round that it said was oversubscribed.
The investors are Droia Ventures, Frazier Life Sciences, RTW Investments, Novartis Venture Fund, RV Invest and Thuja Capital. The announcement did not name a lead investor and did not disclose a valuation.
The money is meant to carry the company's lead drug candidate, ANA-1, through the studies needed before a trial application and into a first Phase 1 trial. Anaheim expects ANA-1 to enter the clinic in 2027 and said the round gives it runway into 2028.
“ANA-1 is designed to directly address the underlying pathology of CPPD”Ilan Ganot, Chief Executive Officer, Anaheim Bio
What Anaheim Bio is developing
ANA-1 is a small-molecule drug aimed at calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease, or CPPD. In CPPD, crystals of calcium pyrophosphate build up in and around the joints, causing a type of inflammatory arthritis. It mainly affects older people and can bring sudden, repeated attacks of severe pain and swelling, and in some patients long-term arthritis that limits movement.
The company puts the share of adults affected in Europe and the US at roughly 4% to 7%. Today's treatments mainly control inflammation and symptoms; no approved drug clears or dissolves the crystals themselves.
ANA-1 is designed to work further upstream. It is an inhibitor intended to lower levels of extracellular inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), a substance involved in forming the crystals, with the aim of tackling the process behind the disease rather than only its flare-ups. The company did not publish preclinical data alongside the launch, and it has not said which patients the first trial will enrol.
A spinout from Alesta
Anaheim was set up in 2026 around programmes carved out of Alesta Therapeutics before BioMarin bought Alesta. The new company is backed by several of Alesta's former investors, and its chair said he was looking forward to working with the former Alesta team again.
"ANA-1 is designed to directly address the underlying pathology of CPPD," said chief executive Ilan Ganot. He said the drug could change care for millions of people who have no therapy that targets the crystal deposits, and thanked Alesta's legacy investors for staying on.
The management team includes chief scientific officer Matthias Van Woensel, chief financial officer Rick Dekker and interim chief medical officer Benit Maru.
Who invested
Luc Dochez, managing partner at Droia Ventures, chairs the board. He described ANA-1 as a route into one of the largest areas of unmet need in rheumatology.
The board also includes Janwillem Naesens of Droia, Dan Estes of Frazier Life Sciences, Laura Brass of Novartis Venture Fund, Ganot, and John McHutchison as an independent director. McHutchison previously advised Alesta.
Anaheim did not say how the €40m was split between investors or whether it plans further programmes beyond ANA-1.
Company website: anaheimbio.com