Mendra Launches with $82 Million Series A to Acquire, Develop, and Commercialize Therapeutics for High Unmet Need Rare Diseases
Financing co-led by OrbiMed, 8VC, and 5AM Ventures with participation from Lux Capital and Wing VC to advance high-impact rare disease therapies leveraging AI
Overview
Mendra, Inc. (“Mendra”), a biopharmaceutical company built to advance promising therapies for rare disease medicines, utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), today announced its launch in conjunction with the closing of an $82 million oversubscribed Series A financing. The round was co-led by OrbiMed, 8VC, and 5AM Ventures with participation from Lux Capital and Wing VC.
Mendra aims to modernize the development and commercialization of rare disease therapies to more efficiently reach patients on a global scale. The company plans to employ AI to accelerate patient identification, clinical trial enrollment, and access to global markets. Funds from the Series A will be leveraged to acquire and develop initial rare disease assets for Mendra’s portfolio.
“We are building Mendra to deliver high-potential rare disease medicines more effectively to patients on a global scale,” said Joshua Grass, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mendra. “By combining deep rare disease expertise with AI-driven capabilities across asset selection, clinical development, and global commercialization - some of the greatest challenges in rare disease drug development - we believe we can accelerate timelines, improve execution and expand access for these underserved patients.”
Leadership & Organization
Mendra is led by a seasoned management team with decades of experience spanning company building, rare disease drug development, global commercialization, and AI software development.
Leadership Team:
- Joshua Grass, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, brings more than 20 years of biopharma leadership experience, including successful exits at Modis Therapeutics and Escient Pharmaceuticals, and an integral role in building BioMarin’s rare disease portfolio.
- Jeff Ajer, Chief Commercial Officer, has more than 25 years of global commercialization experience, including serving as Chief Commercial Officer at BioMarin, where he built and led the company’s commercial infrastructure and launched multiple rare disease therapies worldwide.
- Lalarukh Haris Shaikh, Ph.D., Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer, brings deep experience at the intersection of life sciences, healthcare and technology; she previously served as Executive Vice President of Life Sciences and Aerospace at Palantir Technologies.
- Gregory Balani, Pharm.D., Vice President of Business Development, previously led business development at Escient Pharmaceuticals with prior BD roles at Zogenix and Bayer, and he most recently served as a venture investor at Avego Bioscience Capital.
About Mendra
Founded in 2025 by 8VC and 5AM, Mendra is a biopharmaceutical company focused on improving the development and commercialization of rare disease therapies worldwide. Led and co-founded by CEO Joshua Grass with a highly experienced leadership team, Mendra utilizes AI to address long-standing challenges in patient identification, data curation, and clinical development for rare diseases. By streamlining the drug development process, Mendra plans to accelerate access to innovative treatments for underserved patient populations. Mendra is headquartered in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.mendra.com/