Avalyn Pharma, which raised $175M last year, moves headquarters out of Seattle

Biopharmaceutical company Avalyn Pharma has moved its headquarters from Seattle to Cambridge, Massachusetts, a company spokesperson on Thursday confirmed with the Business Journal.

The move comes on the heels of Avalyn raising a $175 million Series C round in September. At the time, Avalyn had roughly eight of its 17 employees here, and it had 5,900 square feet of office space downtown.

A spokesperson said Avalyn's Seattle team wasn't affected by the move, though it has shifted to working remotely and no longer has a local office. The office had been listed at 701 Pike St., in the CIM Group-owned One Convention Place tower.

The spokesperson said Avalyn is recruiting in Seattle, Cambridge and all over the country.

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A Dec. 6 press release from Avalyn still listed Seattle as the company's headquarters. The next press release, from Feb. 6, lists Cambridge as its headquarters.

Avalyn is developing inhaled drugs aimed at pulmonary fibrosis, a deadly lung disease. Its lead drug, AP01, is in phase 2 trials. Pulmonary fibrosis causes lung scarring that makes it hard to breathe. The damage worsens over time, and the disease is fatal. According to the Cleveland Clinic, one study found "idiopathic" pulmonary fibrosis — so named when doctors can't determine the cause — affects at least 200,000 people in the U.S.

"We think that inhaled delivery then will allow us to make these drugs much more tolerable for patients and hopefully more efficacious as well," Avalyn CEO Lyn Baranowski told the Business Journal in September. "That should allow patients to be able to take drugs and stay on the drug, and hopefully keep them healthier and alive for a lot longer than they can today."

Baranowski, whose LinkedIn profile notes she is based in the Boston area, took over the CEO role in October 2022. She was the chief operating officer at Altavant Sciences for about four years before that. At the time of the September raise, Baranowski said Avalyn didn't have plans to change its Seattle office footprint.

Avalyn also has a drug called AP02 aimed at pulmonary fibrosis that just completed a phase 1a study. The company says oral drugs cause side effects like nausea and fatigue, but its lead drug has been well tolerated. Baranowski previously said the company first raised money in 2017 and was founded just before that.

Avalyn is backed by Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds, SR One and Eventide Asset Management.

Editor's note: The story has been updated with additional details about the company's move.