Dewpoint Therapeutics Secures $60 Million Series A Financing to Advance Novel Small Molecule Therapies Targeting Biomolecular Condensates

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on January 30, 2019, local time, Dewpoint Therapeutics, a biotechnology company based in Massachusetts, USA, announced the completion of a $60 million Series A financing round. The round was led by Polaris Partners, with participation from Samsara BioCapital, 6 Dimensions Capital, EcoR1 Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Leaps by Bayer. The funds will be used to develop small-molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer and neurological disorders.

Dewpoint Therapeutics was co-founded by Anthony Hyman of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden and Richard Young of the Whitehead Institute. Since its inception, Dewpoint Therapeutics has been dedicated to developing biomolecular condensates composed of proteins and RNA. The formation of these biomolecular condensates, technically known as “liquid–liquid phase separation,” is involved in various normal cellular activities. Biologists discovered biomolecular condensates in cells decades ago; although researchers have found associations with cancer and neurological disorders, the specific impacts of these biomolecular condensates on disease remained unclear.

Dewpoint Therapeutics’ bioscience team has discovered through years of research that these liquid-like droplets concentrate proteins and RNA at specific locations within cells, thereby accelerating key chemical reactions inside biomolecular condensates. Biomolecular condensates can fuse together or undergo fission; consequently, their size, physical properties, and composition are constantly changing. Like other molecules in the cell, disease arises when the regulatory mechanisms governing biomolecular condensates are disrupted.

The study, titled “Phase Separation,” has reshaped many biologists’ understanding of cellular tissue regeneration and provided drug developers with a novel approach to creating therapeutics using targeted proteins.

Amir Nashat, Interim CEO of Dewpoint Therapeutics and Managing Partner at Polaris Partners, compared his company’s approach to developing protein-based therapeutics with conventional methods, stating, “Traditional approaches to protein drug development primarily focus on blocking the activity of disease-associated proteins, but they lack the ability to observe and intervene in the molecular context, which severely limits disease control. Dewpoint Therapeutics aims to develop effective small-molecule drugs by modulating the intrinsic mechanisms of biomolecular condensates in previously unexplored protein regions.”

Mark Murcko, Chief Scientific Officer at Dewpoint Therapeutics, stated in an interview with the media: “Dewpoint Therapeutics is currently focusing on the development of small-molecule drugs for the treatment of neurological disorders and cancer. Over the next three years, the company is likely to remain in the preclinical drug development stage rather than advancing to clinical trials. Drug development is akin to a long-distance race; persistence will yield results.”

Polaris Partners, founded in 1996 and headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, currently manages $3.5 billion in assets, with a primary focus on investments in the technology and healthcare sectors.

(Compiled by Hu Xuan)