Novartis-backed Exo Therapeutics closed out 2020 by completing a $25 million Series A financing round. Nearly 10 months later, the small molecule drug discovery and development company has earned more support from investors.
Novartis-backed Exo Therapeutics closed out 2020 by completing a $25 million Series A financing round. Nearly 10 months later, the small molecule drug discovery and development company has earned more support from investors.
On Tuesday, Exo announced that it pulled in $78 million after completing an oversubscribed Series B round. The monies will be used to help the company pursue new targets with the ExoSightTM platform and to advance oncology and inflammation therapeutic candidates stemming from the platform into clinical trials.
The financing round was led by Nextech Invest, which was joined by other new and existing investors including BVF Partners, L.P., Samsara Biocapital, Morningside and Casdin Capital, Newpath Partners, Novartis Venture Fund, CRV and 6 Dimensions Capital.
Exo Therapeutics is based on research from David Liu, who has worked in CRISPR technologies and also ran a Harvard lab that developed a small molecule inhibitor of insulin-degrading enzymes. The company’s drug candidates bind exosites, which are binding pockets that reprogram enzyme activity for precise and robust therapeutic effect.
“Exo is well positioned to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity that exosites represent,” said Michael Bruce, Ph.D., CEO of Exo Therapeutics. “With the support of our world-class investor syndicate and foundational work by professors David Liu and Alan Saghatelian, and their former student Juan Pablo Maianti, we are equipped to expand our ExoSight platform, discover new exosite targets and advance our initial programs towards the clinic.”
Bruce, who has served as CEO of the Massachusetts-based company since early 2020, has more than 20 years of experience in drug discovery and development.
Exo exited stealth mode in December 2020 with its Series A round and a dream of discovering and targeting the exosite on an enzyme. At the time of its launch, less than 700 enzymes made up the entire industry, with over 9,000 untouched. Bruce leads Exo with the belief that the company can create drugs to ‘drug the undruggable’ in areas such as cancer and inflammation.
“Exo is at the forefront of integrated exosite science, aiming to unlock previously intractable drug targets,” Bruce said. “We look to leverage our team’s unmatched expertise and focus on drugging exosites as we advance towards proof-of concept drugs that we will progress to the clinic.”
