A $320 million financing round built around a drug with only four weeks of Phase 1b data is either a bet on an exceptionally clean signal or a reflection of how fiercely the oral IL-23 space is drawing capital right now. Avere Therapeutics is counting on both being true. The company is merging with Nasdaq-listed NextCure in an all-stock deal that will leave legacy NextCure shareholders holding roughly 1.21% of the combined entity, a dilution ratio that tells you everything about which side is providing the real asset here.
That asset is AVR-001, a cyclic peptide IL-23 receptor antagonist licensed from Hansoh Pharmaceutical on an ex-Greater China basis for $120 million upfront plus up to $2.18 billion in milestones. The molecule’s pharmacological hook is a half-life of approximately 100 hours, which is what enables once-weekly oral dosing. In the Hansoh Phase 1b study in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, four weeks of dosing produced PASI and PASI 75 responses described as comparable on a cross-trial basis to the first-generation once-daily oral IL-23 inhibitor, a benchmark that matters because the field is already treating dosing convenience as a competitive differentiator, not a secondary consideration. Avere is framing once-weekly as the standard it intends to set, directly targeting rival programs in the emerging oral IL-23 class.
The team running this is the same group that took Akero Therapeutics from pre-IPO through its $5.2 billion sale to Novo Nordisk completed in December 2025, which is a meaningful credential when you are asking a syndicate that includes Fairmount, General Atlantic, Wellington, T. Rowe Price, and RTW to write nine-figure checks on early-stage data. The $320 million is structured to carry AVR-001 through a Phase 2b psoriasis readout expected in the first half of 2028, into Phase 3 initiation in psoriasis, and through the start of a Phase 2b trial in ulcerative colitis. The injectable IL-23 class, anchored by approvals like risankizumab and guselkumab, has reset patient expectations on efficacy. Avere’s pitch is that oral delivery at once-weekly frequency can match that bar commercially, if not always biologically.
The single number worth tracking from here is the PASI 90 rate in the Phase 2b readout. PASI 75 got Avere to the fundraise; PASI 90 will determine whether payers and physicians treat oral AVR-001 as a genuine alternative to subcutaneous biologics or a convenience option for a narrower, biologic-hesitant patient segment.
Jon Napitupulu is Director of Media Relations at The Clinical Trial Vanguard. Jon, a computer data scientist, focuses on the latest clinical trial industry news and trends.
