Areteia gets $350M to turn failed ALS drug into a therapy for severe asthma

New company Areteia Therapeutics launched with up to $350 million in financing and an asthma drug candidate from Knopp Biosciences. That drug, dexpramipexole, previously failed a pivotal test in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis but more recent clinical testing found that the way the small molecule works has applications in eosinophilic asthma, a severe form of the respiratory disease.