Funding to support the development of pipeline of oral macrocycle drugs, called ‘nCycles,’ focused on validated blockbuster biologic targets
Orbis’ nGen platform systematically explores oral macrocycle design with automated chemistry and machine learning
Financing led by NEA with new investors Lilly Ventures, Cormorant, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark and founding investors Novo Holdings and Forbion
Morten Graugaard appointed Chief Executive Officer
COPENHAGEN, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Orbis Medicines, a leader in oral macrocycle drug discovery, today announces the close of a EUR 90 million Series A funding round, bringing the total amount raised by the company to EUR 116 million. The funds will support the development of Orbis’ pipeline of next-generation oral macrocycle drugs, called ‘nCycles.’ This financing was led by NEA (New Enterprise Associates) with participation from new investors including Eli Lilly and Company, Cormorant, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark and founding investors Novo Holdings and Forbion. Morten Graugaard has been named the Chief Executive Officer of Orbis Medicines following nearly three years serving as Executive Chair of its Board of Directors. Mr. Graugaard brings more than 20 years of experience in life sciences including venture investing, R&D, business development, corporate development and strategy to Orbis’ leadership team.
Orbis Medicines is focused on pioneering a new era for oral macrocycle drug discovery. Macrocycles are a large and diverse family of compounds with highly desirable therapeutic properties but historically have been challenging to develop as oral drugs. Orbis Medicines’ programs are focused on high-value oral alternatives to blockbuster biologic drugs and targets to maximize value for patients.
“The support from this particular group of investors is further validation of the exemplary science and exciting potential of Orbis Medicines. The company is advancing the potential of macrocycles by developing orally available nCycles — a format preferred by patients, physicians and healthcare systems, particularly for chronic diseases,” said Morten Graugaard, newly appointed Orbis CEO. “The interest we have received demonstrates the market appetite for nCycles as an oral approach to both validated biologic targets and targets undruggable by other modalities. We have a clear strategy for rapid value creation that leverages the unique capabilities of our nGen platform and are excited to advance this important new class of drugs for patients.”
“The Orbis Medicines team has impressed us with the data supporting nGen, which we believe is the world’s leading discovery engine for oral macrocycle drugs. We are thrilled to support not only their journey to the clinic, but also their longer-term vision as a leader in their field,” said Ed Mathers, Partner, NEA. “We congratulate Morten on his appointment as CEO after years of successfully guiding the company as Chair. He brings the depth of knowledge and expertise to lead Orbis through this crucial growth phase and deliver on the potential of nCycles.”
About Orbis Medicines
Orbis Medicines is pioneering a new era for oral macrocycle drug discovery. Its nGen platform systematically delivers macrocycle candidates, termed nCycles. These are optimized for oral bioavailability, which has historically hindered therapeutic development of this versatile class of molecules. Orbis’ pipeline is initially focused on nCycle candidates against targets validated by blockbuster biologic drugs delivered by injection. In 2024, Orbis raised a EUR 26 million series seed round co-led by Novo Holdings and Forbion. Proof-of-concept of Orbis’ work has been published in Nature Communications and Nature Chemical Biology. The company is located in Copenhagen, Denmark and Lausanne, Switzerland. For more information, please visit: www.orbismedicines.com
About nGen and nCycles
nGen is Orbis Medicines’ technology platform for generating nCycles, a new class of fully synthetic macrocycle compounds optimized for oral bioavailability and membrane permeability. It consists of multiple proprietary integrated elements in a “lab in a loop” system starting with hit finding libraries of 100 billion compounds. The highly automated chemistry-based nGen platform can synthesize and analyze up to 100,000 distinct synthetic macrocycles in weeks, allowing the company to discover candidates with the right properties to enable oral dosing and intracellular targeting. The scale and quality of the data produced from these real compounds, paired with machine learning, creates an industry-leading platform that de-risks and accelerates development.
Contacts
Media:
Tom Donovan
Ten Bridge Communications
+44 7948152764
tom@tenbridgecommunications.com
