cAMPfield Launches with $180M to Rewire PDE4 Strategy in IBD

cAMPfield Therapeutics has emerged from stealth with $180 million in Series A funding to advance a next-generation oral PDE4 inhibitor targeting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a space where earlier drugs have struggled due to tolerability limitations.

The financing round was led by Frazier Life Sciences and supported by a syndicate including Deep Track Capital, Forbion, Abingworth, Venrock, Longitude Capital, Novo Holdings, and RA Capital.

The company aims to reposition PDE4 inhibition as a viable option in IBD by addressing long-standing safety concerns that have historically limited the class despite its proven anti-inflammatory activity.

Repositioning a Proven but Constrained Mechanism

PDE4 inhibitors have demonstrated clinical efficacy across multiple inflammatory conditions, but their broader use has been constrained by gastrointestinal side effects including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

Current marketed examples include Amgen’s Otezla (apremilast), approved for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and Boehringer Ingelheim’s Jascayd (nerandomilast), a PDE4B-selective inhibitor approved for idiopathic and progressive pulmonary fibrosis.

cAMPfield’s strategy centres on improving subtype selectivity to enhance tolerability while preserving anti-inflammatory efficacy.

The company’s lead asset, prifemilast (also known as HPP737/HY1999), is designed to preferentially inhibit PDE4B, which is associated with anti-inflammatory activity, while limiting PDE4D engagement, which is believed to drive dose-limiting side effects.

Leveraging Existing Clinical Validation

Prifemilast has already been studied in clinical programmes across the US and China involving approximately 700 patients.

Across these datasets, the candidate has shown favourable tolerability, with discontinuation rates comparable to placebo, alongside evidence of robust efficacy in a Phase III plaque psoriasis study.

The asset was originally licensed from Newsoara, which previously acquired global rights through a series of transactions involving vTv Therapeutics.

With this clinical foundation, cAMPfield is positioning prifemilast as a differentiated PDE4 inhibitor with the potential to extend into larger inflammatory indications.

Targeting a High-Need IBD Market

The Series A capital will support two major clinical programmes: a Phase IIb study in moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis and a global Phase II trial in Crohn’s disease.

IBD remains an area of significant unmet need despite a growing number of approved therapies, with many patients failing to achieve durable remission or discontinuing treatment due to safety or efficacy limitations.

cAMPfield argues that a well-tolerated, once-daily oral PDE4 inhibitor could fill a gap between biologics and small molecules by offering chronic disease control without injectable administration.

Competitive Landscape in PDE4-Driven IBD

The company is entering an emerging but competitive field. Palisade Bio, for example, has previously reported early clinical signals from its ileocolonic-targeted PDE4 inhibitor PALI-2108 in ulcerative colitis.

While still early, such programmes underscore renewed interest in PDE4 biology as companies attempt to overcome historical tolerability barriers through improved targeting and delivery approaches.

A Founding Team with Deep IBD Expertise

cAMPfield was founded by Mountainfield Venture Partners alongside a group of experienced gastroenterology drug developers, including former Takeda gastroenterology head Asit Parikh and Keith Usiskin, previously head of gastroenterology at Celgene and later a leader in Bristol Myers Squibb’s GI and immunology portfolio.

CEO Bill Gerhart said the company’s goal is to establish prifemilast as a best-in-class oral therapy offering robust disease control with improved tolerability and convenience for patients and physicians.

A Renewed Bet on Small-Molecule Immunology

The launch of cAMPfield reflects a broader resurgence of interest in oral small-molecule approaches to immune-mediated diseases, particularly where biologics have set a high efficacy bar but leave room for improved convenience and long-term safety.

If successful, PDE4 subtype-selective inhibition could mark a meaningful evolution in how inflammatory pathways are targeted in chronic gastrointestinal disease.

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