Psychiatric medicine remains one of the more challenging and risky areas of drug research. Many prospects show initial promise only to fail later on. Still, recent breakthroughs are spurring more

精神科药物仍然是药物研究中较具挑战性和风险的领域之一。许多前景起初显示出希望，但后来却失败了。尽管如此，最近的突破正在推动更多进展。

investments and acquisitions

投资与收购

in biotechnology companies working on new brain drugs. A startup debuting with a nine-figure bankroll is the latest evidence.

在生物技术公司正在研发新的大脑药物。一家初创公司以九位数的资金首次亮相，这是最新的证据。

That startup, Draig Therapeutics, emerged from stealth on Wednesday with £107 million, or $140 million, in Series A funding that’s been raised over the last nine months. It’s using that cash to push a drug for major depressive disorder into Phase 2 testing this year, and advance two other medicines “towards clinical development” in 2026. .

这家名为Draig Therapeutics的初创公司于周三走出隐秘模式，披露在过去九个月内已筹集了1.07亿英镑（约合1.4亿美元）的A轮融资。该公司将利用这笔资金在今年推动一款重度抑郁症药物进入二期临床试验，并在2026年推进另外两种药物“迈向临床开发”。

Psychiatric conditions like depression are thought to be associated with an imbalance in the signals transmitted throughout the brain’s circuitry. Draig’s lead program, codenamed DT-101, is meant to balance out this “excitatory” and “inhibitory” activity by homing in on a receptor in the brain called AMPA that, in recent years, has emerged as a .

像抑郁症这样的精神疾病被认为与大脑回路中传递的信号失衡有关。Draig公司的主要项目代号为DT-101，旨在通过针对大脑中一种叫做AMPA的受体来平衡这种“兴奋性”和“抑制性”活动，近年来，AMPA已经成为一个关键目标。

promising depression target

有希望的抑郁靶点

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The company plans to start Phase 2 studies of DT-101 by the end of the year. Behind it are two other programs that act on GABA-A receptors, the focus of

公司计划在今年年底前开始DT-101的第二阶段研究。紧随其后的是另外两个作用于GABA-A受体的项目，这也是公司的关注重点。

two drugs

两种药物

Sage Therapeutics brought to market for postpartum depression. Draig has not disclosed which diseases it’s pursuing with those programs, but claimed in a statement that they are “highly selective” and have “best-in-class potential.”

Sage Therapeutics 已将产后抑郁症药物推向市场。Draig 并未披露其通过这些项目正在针对哪些疾病，但声称在一份声明中表示它们“高度选择性”且具有“同类最佳潜力”。

Like other brain drug developers, Draig faces tough challenges ahead. The complicated underpinnings of psychiatric disorders, combined with trouble designing clinical tests that can eliminate placebo responses, make it

像其他大脑药物开发商一样，Draig也面临着严峻的挑战。精神疾病的复杂基础，加上设计能够消除安慰剂反应的临床试验的困难，均使其变得棘手。

difficult for new medicines to break through

新药难以突破

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Ruth McKernan, Draig’s executive chair, wrote in an email to BioPharma Dive said that the company has “deep experience” putting together trials for neuropsychiatric conditions and will use a “range of different strategies to minimize the risk of placebo effects.”

露丝·麦基尔南，Draig公司的执行主席，在给BioPharma Dive的电子邮件中写道，该公司在为神经精神疾病设计试验方面拥有“深厚的经验”，并将使用“多种不同策略来尽量减少安慰剂效应的风险”。

Draig co-founded in 2024 by McKernan, an operating partner at SV Health Investors, and John Atack and Simon Ward, directors of the Medicines Discovery Institute at Cardiff University in Wales. Its Series A round was led by Access Biotechnology, and included participation from six other investors including Canaan Partners, SR One and Sanofi Ventures..

Draig 由 SV Health Investors 的运营合伙人麦基尔南与威尔士卡迪夫大学药物发现研究所的董事约翰·阿塔克和西蒙·沃德于2024年共同创立。其A轮融资由Access Biotechnology领投，还包括Canaan Partners、SR One 和 Sanofi Ventures等其他六家投资者的参与。

Draig Therapeutics emerged from stealth on June 18, 2025, after being spun out of research at Cardiff University in Wales. The company was co-founded by (left to right) John Atack, Ruth McKernan and Simon Ward.

2025年6月18日，Draig Therapeutics公司在从威尔士卡迪夫大学的研究中独立出来后，结束了隐秘模式正式亮相。该公司由约翰·阿塔克、露丝·麦基尔南和西蒙·沃德（从左至右）共同创立。

Permission granted by Draig Therapeutics

Draig Therapeutics 授权许可

“Megarounds” like the fundraising Draig announced Wednesday have become increasingly common in biotech. At least two dozen drug startups, including Draig, have attracted more than $100 million in venture capital in a single round so far this year, according to

像Draig周三宣布的融资这种“巨额融资”在生物技术领域变得越来越普遍。据数据显示，包括Draig在内，至少有二十多家药物初创公司今年在单轮融资中吸引了超过1亿美元的风险投资。

BioPharma Dive data tracking some of the sector’s most active investors

BioPharma Dive 数据追踪了一些行业内最活跃的投资者

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