San Diego-based Amplifica Holdings Group, Inc., a biopharma with a pipeline of injectable therapies for androgenetic alopecia (AGA), has closed an oversubscribed USD 26 million Series B financing. Funding will support its pipeline of biological signaling molecules designed to reactivate dormant hair follicles rather than simply slow hair loss.
Tasso Partners, LLC led the round, with participation from Eli Lilly and Company, principals of Scopia Capital Management, LP, and other new and existing investors. The financing brings total disclosed funding to approximately USD 37.8 million, following a USD 11.8 million Series A in October 2022 facilitated by SternAegis Ventures.
Amplifica is a spinout from the University of California, Irvine, where Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Maksim Plikus, a professor in the Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, conducted the foundational research underpinning both lead candidates. The company holds an exclusive worldwide license from the Regents of the University of California covering the core intellectual property.
Its most advanced asset, AMP-303, is an intradermal injectable that mimics osteopontin signaling to drive conversion of miniaturized vellus hairs into terminal hairs. The molecule's mechanism derives from observations that senescent melanocytes in congenital nevi secrete osteopontin, which activates hair follicle stem cells via the CD44 receptor — producing the visibly denser hair characteristic of hairy moles. AMP-303 completed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase I trial, with results reported in September 2024 and subsequently presented at the Society for Investigative Dermatology Annual Meeting in May 2025.