Celesta Therapeutics

Celesta Therapeutics is an early-stage biotechnology company focused on developing engineered cytokines to address metabolic health and lifestyle-related diseases. Founded in Melbourne, Australia, in 2021 by renowned physiologist Professor Mark Febbraio and Professor William Charman, the company operates in stealth mode. Celesta's lead program is based on IC7Fc, a novel, computationally designed chimeric gp130 receptor ligand that combines elements of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) fused to an IgG Fc domain. This designer cytokine selectively activates membrane-bound gp130 signaling while avoiding pro-inflammatory trans-signaling, showing significant preclinical efficacy in treating type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and atherosclerosis. Backed by investors like Digitalis Ventures and Monash University, Celesta Therapeutics aims to translate these breakthrough immunometabolic therapies into clinical-stage treatments.