Celea Therapeutics raised $180 million to advance deupirfenidone, its retooled pirfenidone program for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, into late-stage testing. The PureTech spinout said the proceeds will fund a late-stage launch targeted for the third quarter of 2026. The venture round was backed by RA Capital Management, Leaps by Bayer, and PureTech, along with two unnamed investors. Celea positioned the drug as a potential improvement over existing antifibrotic options, noting that current IPF treatments include Esbriet (pirfenidone), Ofev (nintedanib), and other emerging late-stage therapies. A Phase 2 readout released in late 2024 showed deupirfenidone slowed lung function decline versus placebo over six months, and analysts characterized tolerability as similar to—if not slightly better than—pirfenidone.