OAKLAND, Calif. – A small Oakland, California-based biotech has secured $70 million to further study its substance use disorder therapies. Tempero Bio says the Series B financing will allow it to start two Phase 2 clinical trials for TMP-301.
The therapy is designed to address the neurobiological basis of addiction, and Tempero says it’s shown promising results in preclinical models of alcohol, cocaine and opiate use disorders. It was also evaluated in more than 80 healthy volunteers in the Phase 1 setting.
“TMP-301 is a novel therapy that helps prevent relapse by targeting the underlying biology of addiction. This financing will allow us to advance TMP-301 through key proof of concept phase 2 studies in humans,” said Ricardo Dolmetsch, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of Tempero Bio, in a statement.
Despite the millions of Americans struggling with substance use disorder, treatment options remain limited. Only three FDA-approved medications exist for alcohol use disorder, and according to researchers from the Federation of American Scientists, they’re only prescribed to around 2% of people suffering from AUD in the United States.
“Substance use disorders affect 48 million Americans and contribute to more than 100,000 deaths per year. We urgently need more effective treatments to help patients and families with these diseases,” said Dolmetsch.
Tempero was founded in 2020 by Aditum Bio, an investment firm started by former Novartis executives Joe Jimenez and Mark Fishman.
