Weight loss player gets attention of RA Capital, walks away with $132M to keep pursuing big targets

A biotech out  to corner a new market in the diabetes and weight loss space has recorded its second, and so far largest, raise yet.

Charlottesville, VA-based Rivus Pharmaceuticals made the announcement Thursday that it has closed its Series B at $132 million. Led by RA Capital, the round will push the biotech further along in clinical development of its lead candidate, HU6. Per Rivus, the lead candidate is a type of small molecule called a “controlled metabolic accelerator,” a term the biotech coined to describe a drug designed to target obesity — by increasing the number of calories a patient burns.