PureTech Founded Entity Celea Therapeutics Completes $180 Million Financing to Advance Deupirfenidone as a Potential New Standard of Care to Treat Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)
PureTech Health plc a hub-and-spoke biotherapeutics company dedicated to giving life to science and transforming innovation into value, is pleased to note that its Founded Entity Celea Therapeutics (“Celea”) today announced the completion of a $180 million financing. Participants included RA Capital Management, Leaps by Bayer, and founder PureTech Health, alongside a large, U.S.-based healthcare-focused fund and a leading sovereign wealth fund. Proceeds from the financing will support the planned early Q3 2026 initiation of the Phase 3 SURPASS-IPF trial of deupirfenidone (LYT-100), an investigational next-generation antifibrotic with the potential to serve as a new standard of care for people living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Robert Lyne, Chief Executive Officer of PureTech commented:
The completion of Celea’s $180 million financing marks a transformative milestone for both PureTech and Celea. The participation from a distinguished syndicate of leading healthcare investors provides powerful third-party validation of the deupirfenidone program and the significant progress achieved to date, underscoring the meaningful commercial opportunity we collectively believe it represents.
With this financing, Celea is now positioned to initiate the first-ever industry-sponsored head-to-head Phase 3 trial in IPF. Success in this pivotal trial has the potential to redefine the treatment landscape, delivering significant benefit for patients and value for shareholders.
This transaction establishes Celea as an independent company with dedicated capital to advance deupirfenidone and a high-quality syndicate to support the company’s continued growth. To that end, PureTech is reserving $70 million beyond our $30 million participation in this round to support Celea based on our conviction in the deupirfenidone program, especially in light of recent public valuations of late-stage clinical assets in the pulmonary space.
For PureTech, the transaction delivers on the strategy we outlined in 2025. By establishing a path for the continued development of deupirfenidone with third-party capital, the transaction enables PureTech’s transition to a lean operating model while maintaining meaningful ownership in Celea and significant long-term economic upside.
More broadly, this milestone reinforces PureTech’s track record of advancing differentiated programs to key value-inflection points and positioning them to attract high-quality, substantial third-party investment. This disciplined approach remains central to our strategy of continuing to create a diversified portfolio with multiple future value drivers, generating innovative medicines for patients and value for shareholders.”
Eric Elenko, Ph.D., President and Co-founder of PureTech commented:
“PureTech’s model is to advance differentiated programs to key value-inflection points and establish them as independent companies with the dedicated capital, governance, and strategic focus needed for their next stage of development. Today’s financing represents an important milestone in that strategy. We are pleased to welcome this exceptional group of investors and board members as partners in Celea, whose support will be invaluable in positioning Celea for long-term success as it advances deupirfenidone through Phase 3 and beyond.”
Consistent with the strategic priorities outlined by PureTech in 2025, the financing establishes a capital-efficient path forward for the deupirfenidone program, providing a dedicated team and external capital to support the continued development of deupirfenidone, while enabling PureTech to retain meaningful ownership and significant non-dilutive economics. PureTech contributed $30 million in the completed financing and has reserved $70 million from existing cash resources to potentially support Celea in the future. As previously guided in PureTech’s 2025 Annual Report and Accounts, PureTech has operational runway at least through the end of 2028, which accounts for the full deployment of the additional $70 million reserved for Celea.
Following the completion of the financing, PureTech holds 35.4% of the fully diluted share capital in Celea.1 PureTech is also entitled to receive tiered royalties2 on annual net sales of Celea’s products that use the deupirfenidone technology, including:
- 1% of annual net sales less than $1 billion
- 2% of annual net sales equal to or greater than $1 billion but less than $2 billion
- 3% of annual net sales equal to or greater than $2 billion
Additionally, PureTech is entitled to receive up to $190 million in aggregate milestone payments in connection with various sales milestones, including:
- $15 million upon the first commercial sale of a Celea product in the United States;
- $25 million upon the first achievement of $500 million in worldwide net sales of all Celea products in a single calendar year;
- $50 million upon the first achievement of $1 billion in worldwide net sales of all Celea products in a single calendar year; and
- $100 million upon the first achievement of $3 billion in worldwide net sales of all Celea products in a single calendar year.
PureTech is also entitled to receive 20% of sublicense income generated by Celea with respect to the deupirfenidone technology.
About Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a rare, progressive, and fatal lung disease characterized by irreversible scarring of lung tissue that leads to a steady decline in lung function. Median survival following diagnosis is estimated to be two to five years,4 and currently there is no cure.
About Celea Therapeutics
Celea Therapeutics is dedicated to advancing transformative treatments for people with serious respiratory diseases. Drawn from the Latin word for “sky,” the name reflects the company’s mission to rise above the status quo and deliver therapies that change lives. Celea’s lead program, deupirfenidone (LYT-100), is a Phase 3-ready therapeutic candidate with the potential to set a new standard of care for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other fibrotic lung diseases. Celea was founded by PureTech Health plc (LSE: PRTC), a hub-and-spoke biotherapeutics company dedicated to giving life to science.
About PureTech Health
PureTech Health is a hub-and-spoke biotherapeutics company dedicated to giving life to science and transforming innovation into value. We do this through a proven, capital-efficient R&D model focused on opportunities with validated pharmacology and untapped potential to address significant patient needs. This strategy has produced dozens of therapeutic candidates, including three that have received U.S. FDA approval. By identifying, shaping, and de-risking these high-conviction assets, and scaling them through dedicated structures backed by external capital, we accelerate their path to patients while creating sustainable value for shareholders.
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