Drug Farm has closed a $55 million Series D financing to advance two clinical programs built around ALPK1, a signaling protein the company is targeting from opposite directions in two very different diseases.

The round drew participation from investors including the Shanghai Pudong Leading Area Investment Center and the Shanghai Puxing Collaborative Private Equity Fund Partnership Enterprise, among others. Proceeds will fund the continued development of DF-003, an ALPK1 inhibitor now in Phase 3 testing for ROSAH syndrome, a rare genetic autoinflammatory disorder that can cause progressive vision loss, kidney dysfunction and other systemic complications. The same capital will also support DF-006, an ALPK1 agonist immunomodulator in Phase 2 development for hepatitis B infection and hepatocellular carcinoma.

The dual-program structure reflects a broader trend among mid-size biotechs of building a single validated mechanism into more than one indication to spread clinical and commercial risk across a shared manufacturing and regulatory base, rather than betting the company on one program alone. ALPK1’s role spans both rare inflammatory disease and viral oncology, giving Drug Farm two distinct paths to a first approval from the same underlying biology.

ROSAH syndrome, caused by mutations affecting the ALPK1 pathway, remains a small but underserved patient population with no approved disease-modifying therapy, making a positive Phase 3 readout for DF-003 a potential first-in-class approval. Hepatitis B, by contrast, is a much larger global disease burden, and a functional cure or improved control of chronic infection carries commercial upside well beyond the rare disease indication, if DF-006’s Phase 2 data support continued development.

The financing lands amid a broader rebound in biotech venture funding, with more than $9.1 billion raised industrywide by at least 68 companies in the first half of the year, though investors have increasingly concentrated that capital in companies with clinical-stage assets and clear near-term data catalysts, a bar Drug Farm’s dual Phase 3 and Phase 2 programs are positioned to clear. As sponsors look for ways to generate that data efficiently, some are increasingly weighing trial sites outside their home markets, including Australia’s CTN pathway and its 43.5% R&D Tax Incentive, as a way to stretch late-stage financing further without sacrificing the quality of the data package.