Pharmaceutical Business review

LifeMine secures funds to advance genomic drug discovery platform

Avatar-Rx will be used for the discovery of new genetically encoded small molecules. Credit: Sangharsh Lohakare on Unsplash.

Led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, the financing round has seen participation of new investors that include 3W Partners Capital and Invus, along with existing investors including Arch Venture Partners, MRL Ventures Fund, Blue Pool Capital, and GV.

Additionally, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) participated in the round as a strategic partner.

LifeMine’s platform will be used to discover and develop genetically encoded small molecules for difficult-to-drug targets across many disease areas.

It integrates artificial intelligence, high-throughput microbiology, data science as well as genome engineering and automation technologies.

This will be used for the discovery of new genetically encoded small molecules (GEMs) with a predetermined target and biological function, synthetic biology, from the fungal biosphere.

LifeMine Therapeutics co-founder, president and CEO Gregory Verdine said: “This financing will allow us to further scale our Avatar-Rx platform and advance our lead programs targeting some of the most elusive and high value genetically validated drivers of cancer.

“This financing, together with our recently announced multitarget R&D collaboration with GSK, and factoring in recent scientific and corporate progress, leaves us well-positioned to rapidly advance multiple high-impact precision medicines to solve some of the most intractable challenges facing modern medicine.”

The company’s platform further integrates advanced chemical synthesis along with chemoinformatic-assisted drug optimisation for advancing the new product candidates through preclinical discovery as well as into the clinical development.

LifeMine focuses on advancing impactful precision medicines in oncology and immune modulation.