What we're looking forward to in 2026
Neumora's positive clinical data , new tenants at the Arsenal, and more
Happy New Year! Biotech in Watertown returned from the holiday shut down and immediately hit the gas, so lets jump in. As always, if you find these news letters informative, consider supporting our work.
Keep an eye out later this month for our 2025 Watertown Life Science Industry Report, the first report of its kind to take a deep dive into the Watertown Life Science Sector, covering everything from employment and community benefits to VC funding and the city’s therapeutic pipeline.
Happy New Year! Biotech in Watertown returned from the holiday shut down and immediately hit the gas, so lets jump in. As always, if you find these news letters informative, consider supporting our work.
Keep an eye out later this month for our 2025 Watertown Life Science Industry Report, the first report of its kind to take a deep dive into the Watertown Life Science Sector, covering everything from employment and community benefits to VC funding and the city’s therapeutic pipeline.
Neumora’s Shares Promising Clinical Trial Results for NMRA-511
On Monday, Neumora Therapeutics (Headquartered on Arsenal Place) released positive Phase 1b clinical trial data for their compound NMRA-511 which is being developed for elderly and adults with agitation associated with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. The study results suggest that NMRA-511 was well tolerated and that it demonstrated a clinical effect relative to the placebo group..
According to the results call, Neumora is positioning NMRA-511 to compete with FDA approved Rexulti by providing similar clinical benefit without Rexulti’s black box safety warning. The Company is planning to initiate a multiple ascending dose extension this year to inform the dosing used in future Phase 2/3 trials.
Kestrel Therapeutics Moves into The Arsenal on the Charles
Kestrel Therapeutics has moved into 321 Arsenal Street at the Arsenal on the Charles from the Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab in Allston, according to a notification from Colliers. The company is developing inhibitors to treat cancers caused by mutations in the KRAS gene, which one of the most common causes of cancer, responsible for an estimated 14% of new cancer patients in the US each year.
Kestrel will face competition in the KRAS space from their neighbors at Treeline Bio across Arsenal Street, who have started phase 1 clinical trials for their own KRAS targeted therapeutic last fall and have raised more than $1 Billion in funding. While Kestrel is headquartered at 321 Arsenal Street, the building does not have any wet laboratory space, suggesting that like their neighbor Disc Medicine Kestrel will either operate labs offsite or use contract research and manufacturing providers.
What We’re Paying Attention to in 2026
FDA Decision on Bitopertin New Drug Application - in 2025 Disc received one of 9 Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) for bitopertin to treat several kinds of porphyrias that result in sensitivity to sunlight. In September, Disc submitted their new drug application (NDA) with a decision anticipated in 2026. If approved, Disc Medicine would join Eyepoint Pharmaceticals and Enanta Pharmaceuticals as Watertown companies with an FDA approved drug. However, reporting from STAT News suggests that challenges with the CNPV program have caused FDA staff to ask for an extension on the Biotopertin review.
Eyepoint’s DURAVYU Phase 3 Clinical Trial Results - Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals expects to report out results from their LUGANO and LUCIA Phase 3 trials for DURAVYU for the treatment of Wet AMD in mid-2026, with a new drug application (NDA) to follow. If successful, DURAVYU aims to be the first sustained release degradable drug scaffold for the treatment of Wet AMD to file for an NDA. They are the furthest along of the three Watertown companies working on a therapy for Wet AMD, the others being Frontera Therapeutics and Ingenia Therapeutics.
Lyra’s race against time to Finish LYR-210 Phase 3 Trials - The last two years have been a roller coaster for Lyra Therapeutics. Spun out from Arsenal Medical back in 2011, Lyra (formerly known as 480 Biomedical, a reference to its address on Arsenal Street) appeared to be on track to submit a new drug application for its lead product, LYR-210, a long-acting, bioabsorbable, anti-inflammatory sinonasal drug implant for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis. However, after their Enlighten 1 Phase 3 trial missed its primary endpoint, Lyra laid off 75% of their workforce and paused the development of other programs to complete their concurrent Enlighten 2 Phase 3 Trial. Fast forward to June 2025, and the Enlighten 2 trial demonstrated positive results for LYR-210. After meeting with the FDA, the company has a roadmap for an NDA, but first has to complete one more confirmatory trial, which they aim to launch in Q1 2026. With an estimated cash runway through Q3 2026, we are watching to see if Lyra can complete their trial and submit their NDA before they run out of cash, or if they can secure a funding lifeline to extend their runway.
FDA Decision on Arvinas’ PROTAC - While not headquartered in Watertown, Arvinas is the first company to submit a PROTAC, a type of targeted protein degrader, to the FDA for approval. The FDA is expected to provide a decision by mid-year. At least six Watertown companies: C4 Therapeutics, Foghorn Therapeutics, Kymera Therapeutics, Treeline Biosciences, and Entact Bio are developing PROTACs or other therapies based on targeted protein degrader mechanisms so delays or concern’s raised during Arvinas’ PROTAC review could potentially have a large impact on the therapy approval roadmap for companies here in Watertown.
LabShares Strengthening Watertown’s home grown talent pipeline - Over the last decade, the Watertown life sciences community has mainly grown by attracting firms that were founded in Cambridge (like Kymera Therapeutics or Diagonal Therapeutics) that receiving funding and couldn’t find space in Cambridge, complimented by a smaller cohort of Watertown-founded companies like Digital Biology or Treeline Biosciences. More recently, in an effort to save costs, firms like Foghorn Therapeutics and Camp4 Therapeutics (more below) have been working with their landlord Alexandria Real Estate Equities to lower their rent by restructuring their leases and moving from Cambridge to Watertown.
With the opening of LabShares later this year, Watertown will now have three spaces for early stage companies. We’re interested in seeing how the Watertown start-up scene evolves in the coming years to provide a “home-grown” pipeline of companies that can expand to fill the larger, currently vacant spaces at the Arsenal and other campuses, rather than solely relying on bringing firms in from Cambridge.
Quick Updates
Arrivals
Camp4 Therapeutics has modified their lease with Alexandria Real Estate Equities and will be moving from Cambridge to 100 Talcott Ave at the Arsenal on the Charles, according to documents filed with the SEC. The lease at the Arsenal is planned to start mid-year. The Company is focused on developing RNA actuators to turn on genes to treat recessive partial loss of function diseases and haploinsufficient diseases. The space at 100 Talcott Ave was previously occupied by Tome Biosciences.
People
Remix Therapeutics has appointed Mythili Koneru, MD, PHD as their Chief Medical Offcer
That’s all for this week. As always, if you find these newsletters informative, consider supporting our work.
