Biotechnology company Morphic Therapeutic has just publicized their completion of a successful $80 million Series B financing meant to support their two lead programs in developing modern oral integrin therapies, as well as further other clinic programs.
Biotechnology company Morphic Therapeutic has just publicized their completion of a successful $80 million Series B financing, meant to support their two lead programs in developing modern oral integrin therapies as well as further other clinic programs. The company’s research features groundbreakingly effective small-molecule integrin inhibitors that can be ingested orally, describing integrins on their website as “adhesion receptors that mediate many of the key cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions . . . Integrins lie at the heart of many cellular biological processes. These receptors can signal bi-directionally, both “inside-out” and “outside-in”, to control a variety of biological processes, such as development, cell attachment, migration, division, growth, differentiation, survival, and apoptosis. At times, integrins utilize highly dynamic changes in their structure to regulate biology beyond typical means.”
Morphic Therapeutic’s Series B round of financing was led by both Omega Funds and Novo Holdings. Nilesh Kumar, Ph.D., Partner at Novo Ventures and Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D., Managing Director at Omega Funds have joined the Board of Directors at Morphic following their investments. Stampacchia quoted that “The Morphic team’s achievements underscore the value of their foundational collaborations with the Springer lab and Schrödinger. We are drawn to Morphic by the clear clinical promise of the company’s platform, and the wide range of patients who stand to benefit from the creation of oral integrin therapeutics. We look forward to supporting Morphic’s progress through clinical development.” Kumar, who is additionally an affiliate of and advisor to Novo Holdings, added that “Morphic’s platform has yielded several novel oral drug candidates targeting integrins in several major indications. Led by great science and a strong team they have delivered major milestones in laying the foundation for clinical success and we are excited to support their unique programs and platform.” Additional participating investors included Invus and EcoR1 Capital.
Morphic Therapeutic has a long history in cutting-edge biotechnology, founded by immunologist and biophysicist Timothy Springer who discovered integrins in the 1980s. Springer, who is a Latham Family Professor at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston, has worked since his discovery to pioneer the regulation of integrins’ biological function. According to his biography, Springer’s “pioneering work resulted in the detailed characterization of integrin structure and robust understanding of biophysical phenomena underlying their activation. This has led to the founding of multiple biotechnology companies (LeukoSite, Scholar Rock, Morphic Therapeutic) and approved therapeutics including Amevive®, Raptiva®, Campath®, Velcade®, and Entyvio®). Morphic Therapeutics Inc., capitalizes on his 15 years of study of the molecular mode of action underlying unproductive interactions between small-molecule drugs and their integrin targets in the disease tissue. These findings make possible small molecule antagonists which reverse their activation by preventing them from occupying disease-specific signaling and conformational states.”
Upon Springer’s initial findings, integrins were approved to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, plaque psoriasis, acute coronary syndrome and complications during percutaneous coronary intervention via injectable therapies. Now, with the innovative oral capabilities of the company’s integrin therapies, Morphic Therapeutic is “focusing on three related therapeutic areas of high unmet medical need by combining our innovative platform and deep knowledge in integrin biology. Morphic’s unparalleled know-how and experience has enabled the formation and advancement of an exciting portfolio of transformative integrin-based therapies.Our ever-growing technology platform and domain knowledge has prepared us for rapid success in the integrin class of targets and beyond.”
Praveen Tipirneni, M.D., President & Chief Executive Officer of Morphic Therapeutic, informs that “over the past two years we have made exceptional progress in establishing what we believe is the world’s only broad-based structure enabled integrin drug discovery platform, leveraging insights from the Springer lab. With compelling preclinical data across a number of programs, we are accelerating our advance into the clinic. We welcome the support of both new and existing investors, including several crossover investors, in our efforts to advance a new generation of oral integrin drugs to treat a diverse range of diseases that present significant unmet medical needs.”
