India, Feb 05: Pinwheel Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company advancing differentiated therapeutic assets has raised 20mn from US-based growth equity fund, 108 BioCapital.
Having recently completed its first close of over 40mn, the fund has initiated registration for a Gift City feeder vehicle with its application in due process. The fund is backed by luminaries including the family office of Mr. Mike Bingle of Silverlake Partners; Claypond, the family office of Dr. Ranjan Pai, CMD, Manipal Group; Daftarys promoter of Bharat Serum; Mr. Suresh Vazirani of Erba-TransAsia Group; and, Mr. Siddharth Parekh, Founder, Paragon Partners a prominent India focused mid-market PE fund, alongside other large US-based and global institutions.
The current transaction represents a special-situation recapitalization of a late-stage clinical asset purchased following the sale of PE-backed Covis Pharmaceuticals to Azurity Pharmaceuticals, ahead of a defined late-stage clinical inflection.
On the occasion of the investment, Dr. Sasha Bakhru, Managing Partner & CEO of 108 BioCapital, an Indian-American biotech entrepreneur said
“This is our inaugural investment and represents a compelling next-generation, clinical-stage anticoagulant reversal opportunity. This fund is focused on targeting biotech and medtech companies addressing high impact, unmet medical needs with a clear emphasis on regulatory and commercial readiness. Ciraparantag, a small molecule manufactured by simple peptide chemistry was originally invented and developed by Perosphere Pharmaceuticals and promised to fill the gap left by Andexxa, which was withdrawn from the US market in December 2025 and support rapid decision making in time critical settings such as trauma, intracranial hemorrhage and emergency surgery.”
Pinwheel holds worldwide rights and patents for Ciraparantag until at least 1Q2034 and has the flexibility to re-license territories which could itself generate significant revenues and further de risk the asset ahead of a strategic exit.
Ciraparantag is currently the only clinical-stage therapy designed to reverse both direct oral Factor Xa inhibitors Direct Thrombin Inhibitors and low molecular weight and unfractionated heparins. It is being developed as a universal reversal option for emergency anticoagulation management in hospital and acute-care settings. Dosage will be in the form of a ready-to-use IV injection and will cost a fraction of prior reversal therapies and procoagulant clotting factor cocktails.
Additionally, 108 BioCapital’s General Partners, Shom Jagtiani and Shahryar Oveissi stated
“The US healthcare market presents a compelling opportunity. The Fund includes six pre-identified target portfolio companies with the opportunity to invest in at least two additional ventures during the investment period. We take an operationally engaged approach and work closely with the management teams and help navigate critical inflection points.”
The global anticoagulant reversal market is approximately 1.4 billion and growing as DOAC usage expands in aging populations, with Xarelto and Eliquis now both ranking among the top ten most prescribed medications in both the US and EU. Despite this scale, the market remains underdeveloped, with very few approved therapies and limited clinical competition, reflecting historical gaps in effective and safe reversal options.