Anodyne Nanotech, a Boston-based clinical-stage biotech, has closed a $12.6 million Series A led by Velocity Partners VC and co-led by Evercurious VC, with participation from Relativity Healthcare Partners. The funding will advance ANN-101, a once-weekly GLP-1 microneedle patch for obesity, into a Phase I clinical trial.
The HeroPatch platform uses solid-state microneedle technology to deliver multi-milligram doses of large molecules through the skin – no injection, no cold storage. In preclinical studies, the patch delivered a GLP-1 dose equivalent to a 3.6 mg subcutaneous injection of semaglutide with greater than 50% bioavailability, and its sustained release profile could reduce the gastrointestinal side effects that drive high GLP-1 discontinuation rates (30% drop out within four weeks, 58% before 12 weeks, per Blue Cross data).
The pipeline is where it gets particularly relevant for women’s health. Up to 40% of weight lost on GLP-1 therapies comes from lean body mass including muscle tissue – a concern especially for older women who already face accelerated muscle loss after menopause. Anodyne’s second program, ANN-102, is an APJ receptor agonist for sarcopenia that showed significant muscle strength improvement in preclinical studies. The company’s ability to co-formulate multiple agents in a single patch opens the door to a combined GLP-1 and muscle-preserving therapy – addressing both obesity and the lean mass loss that accompanies it.
“We have demonstrated the ability to deliver multi-milligram weekly doses of a GLP-1 with a patch, and reach the exposures obesity treatment requires, without an injection or cold storage,” said CEO Jake Lombardo. “Closely following our GLP-1 program is our apelin/GLP-1 combination patch, which is designed to counter the lean-mass loss that accompanies GLP-1-driven weight loss.”
