Southlake-based biotech company Renibus Therapeutics announced on Tuesday that it has completed a $15 million extension as part of its Series A financing, closing the round at $35 million, according to a news release.
The firm also announced Frank Stonebanks as its new CEO.
“Renibus has arrived at a critical inflection point in its commitment to transform the prevention and treatment of kidney diseases, and I see enormous potential in each of the programs,” Stonebanks said in the release. “The closing of our $35 million capital raise will accelerate our momentum across the clinical portfolio.”
Renibus is a clinical-stage biotech company focused on preventing and treating cardiorenal diseases. The release said that the co-founder and former CEO of Al Guillem would transition to executive chairman of its board.
“Frank brings a proven track record of success leading both public and private companies, as well as notable expertise in the venture capital world, and Renibus will benefit from his leadership as it enters a critical phase,” Guillem said in the release. “These leadership changes and our recent financing position the company well for continued growth.”
Stonebanks most recently served as a venture partner at Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health, a seed-stage health care-focused VC firm. He was previously a founder and CEO of Triphase LP. Stonebanks had leadership and advisor roles at Johnson & Johnson, IBM and Sanofi earlier in his career.
According to the release, Stonebanks served as an advisor to Renibus before his appointment, leveraging his expertise as a repeat biotech CEO to help guide the company’s development.
Proceeds from the recent financing will be used to advance Renibus’ pipeline, including the company’s lead candidates:
- RBT-1 for prevention of acute kidney injury (AKI), currently in a large (126 patients), randomized, double-blind study in AKI in a cardiac surgery setting.
- RBT-2 is in development to treat chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is scheduled to begin Phase I later this year.
- RBT-3 may commence Phase III development in Q3 2022 to treat iron-deficient anemia, with a differentiated product profile than the current standard of care.
In 2021, Guillem told the Dallas Business Journal that the North Texas life sciences market has improved.
“Over the last (roughly) 20 years, there’s been the development of infrastructure resources,” he said. “All these companies have started here, have brought talent here; people have stayed. They’ve been able to tap into the next gig.”
