An Oxford University spinout has raised £75.5 million to progress its drug pipeline in immunology and rare diseases.
MedTech OMass Therapeutics is developing small molecule drugs to treat diseases and immunological conditions.
The company has a unique approach to the way it finds new medicines: using its proprietary drug discovery platform, OdyssION, it says it can more accurately interrogate the target and how it interacts with its native ecosystem.
These observations provide potentially critical information that can increase the chances of finding highly effective small molecule medicines that will be successful in clinical trials.
The company has commercialised Professor Dame Carol Robinson’s breakthrough research in native mass spectrometry, allowing for the interrogation of protein interactions within its native ecosystem while avoiding the confounding complexity of the cell.
The Series B financing was led by new investors GV, Northpond Ventures and Sanofi Ventures, with existing investors Syncona, Oxford Science Enterprises and Oxford University also participating.
It brings the total amount that OMass has raised to £119m. The proceeds will be used to advance its small molecule portfolio towards clinical trials. This includes progressing drugs to treat Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and other inflammatory and rare diseases.
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Ros Deegan, CEO of OMass, said: “The completion of this oversubscribed round with such high-calibre investors is recognition of the significance of our OdyssION platform and its potential to support the development of an exciting portfolio of novel drug candidates.
“We have already made significant progress against highly validated but previously ‘undruggable’ targets and can now accelerate them towards clinical development while continuing to expand our pipeline.”
Following the financing, Scott Biller, Ph.D., Executive Venture Partner at GV, Diana Bernstein, Ph.D., Vice President at Northpond Ventures, and Laia Crespo, Ph.D., Partner at Sanofi Ventures, will join the OMass board of directors.
Biller said: “By studying proteins in their native state as found within the cell, the OMass platform can address many important targets that have been elusive until now. Through this platform, OMass has created an impressive portfolio of therapeutic programs with the potential to dramatically improve the lives of patients.”