Dewpoint Therapeutics’ research into new areas of biology based on how tiny droplets inside cells cause disease has led to partnerships with several large pharmaceutical companies, including Bayer and Pfizer. The company’s preclinical drug pipeline currently spans 20 programs, and now has $150 million to bring some of these potential drugs closer to their first trials in humans.
SoftBank leads the way C round Funding announced Thursday.
The droplets Dewpoint focuses on are called biomolecular condensates. These organelles do not have membranes, but they do contain certain concentrations of proteins and nucleic acids. In crowded cellular environments, condensates organize and play a role in various cellular activities. But in some cases, the condensate does not work properly. For example, they might keep proteins needed elsewhere in the cell, or they might keep proteins needed for critical processes.
Boston-based Dewpoint aims to address condensation water dysfunction. It refers to its drug candidates as condensation modifiers, or c-mods. The company says the c-mods work by preventing condensate from sequestering proteins and driving key components back into these organelles. These drugs are designed to restore the properties of healthy condensation function. Dewpoint uses platform technologies to discover its c-mods, including the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning image analysis to visualize biomolecular condensates, and high-throughput screening of compounds to identify compounds that have an effect on condensates in specific diseases.
Bayer is the first partner with dew point.Biotechnology ten months later Launched in 2019, Bayer agreed to pay up to $100 million for research that could lead to new drugs for gynecological and cardiovascular diseases.The following year, Merck committed up to $305 million to Dewpoint protocol Focus on developing new HIV treatments. Pfizer signed on as a partner more than a year ago.That alliance Focus on myotonic dystrophy type 1, a rare muscle disease.
Including its drug research partners, Dewpoint said its pipeline includes 20 programs across four therapeutic areas: cancer, neuromuscular disease, cardiopulmonary disease and virology. Without providing any timeline estimates or specifying any disease targets, Dewpoint said it aims to use the new financing to advance multiple programs through to the submission of an investigational new drug application.
SoftBank invested in Dewpoint from its Vision Fund 2. Other new Dewpoint investors joining the latest funding round are General Catalyst, Mubadala Capital, 3E Bioventures, Mirae Asset Capital and NS Investment. Earlier investors also participated in the round, including Bayer’s Leaps, Polaris Partners, Samsara BioCapital, ARCH Venture Partners, EcoR1 Capital and Maverick Ventures.
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