Company will advance anticancer agent ALD518 and migraine treatment ALD403.

Alder BioPharmaceuticals has closed a $38 million Series D financing round. Proceeds of the financing will support clinical development of mAb therapeutic candidates ALD518 and ALD403. The money will also support preclinical studies including a therapeutic targeting PCSK9 for treating dyslipidemia.

ALD518, an antibody to the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6, is currently being investigated in Phase II studies in cancer-related indications, which were retained by the company in its partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) in 2009. BMS is developing the antibody for autoimmune diseases (BMS-945429).

ALD403 is a calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibiting antibody therapeutic for treatment of migraines. Clinical investigation of ALD403 will begin this month, Alder reports. The firm’s PCSK9-targeting mAb, ALD306, is being investigated in cardiovascular patients who have trouble reaching target lipid levels with statins.

“We are proud that in the four years since our Series C round, the Alder team has been tremendously successful in building a pipeline of therapeutics that enabled this round of financing,” says Randall Schatzman, Ph.D., president and CEO. “This financing will provide us with the resources to advance ALD403, which targets well-validated biology in treating migraine and has a similar potential as ALD518 to be a significant game-changer in its disease area.”

Alder explains that its core technology enables the production of antibodies in very high quantities with improved cost structure via their Mab Xpress technology, allowing this class of therapeutics to enter disease areas that have previously been inaccessible for antibodies, such as migraine and cardiovascular disease.

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