Westlake-backed Vedana Therapeutics raises $46M to develop anti-PACAP migraine prevention drugs

Vedana Therapeutics, a new biotech formed out of stealth, announced it has secured $46 million in financing backed by Westlake. The capital will be used to advance its anti-PACAP antibody program aimed at preventing migraines.

Current migraine preventive medicines largely target the CGRP protein, but a substantial proportion of patients either do not respond or discontinue use. Vedana is targeting PACAP, another nervous-system protein thought to trigger migraine attacks through a distinct pathway.

The anti-PACAP approach is gaining traction in the industry. Danish drugmaker Lundbeck, for example, acquired an anti-PACAP candidate when it bought Alder BioPharmaceuticals in 2019, underscoring growing interest in this mechanism.

With its new funding, Vedana plans to move its candidates through preclinical studies and toward early-stage clinical trials, aiming to fill the treatment gap for patients who are not helped by existing CGRP therapies.