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| Bruce Booth--Courtesy of Atlas Venture |
About a year after launching with the help of Atlas Venture and Johnson & Johnson's ($JNJ) Massachusetts biotech incubator, Cambridge's Rodin Therapeutics is setting out with $12.9 million in Series A cash and a plan to apply some cutting-edge science to common central nervous system disorders.
The round, led by its two benefactors, will fund Rodin's efforts to get its preclinical pipeline of epigenetic modulators into human trials. The biotech is developing a stable of small-molecule therapies designed to bind with epigenetic targets and treat debilitating CNS ailments like Alzheimer's disease.
Epigenetics is, broadly, the overarching science that governs heritable genes and how they express themselves. Thanks to a host of cellular parameters, people with the same genotypes can have widely ranging phenotypic traits, thus spurring researchers to investigate the epigenetic roots of disease. In the world of biomedicine, drug developers have thus far made headway in applying the field's discoveries to oncology treatments, but Rodin is venturing into comparatively uncharted territory with its R&D efforts in the CNS space.
The biotech's lead program is a selective modulator of an epigenetic target that is responsible for, among other things, the transcription of genes related to memory, Atlas partner and Rodin acting Chief Business Officer Ankit Mahadevia told FierceBiotech. In animal models, the treatment led to improved performance in learning and memory tasks, giving Rodin hope it can improve cognitive performance in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.
"It basically helps the patients use the brain that they have better," Mahadevia said. "In Alzheimer's disease, those improvements can be the difference between the ability to lead a functional, independent life and needing more support."
Rodin began its un-stealth life last summer with help from founding shareholder Proteros, a German biotech that lent out its protein-producing drug discovery platform. Atlas partner Bruce Booth took the reins as acting CEO, joined by Chief Science Officer Marty Jefson--a former head of neuroscience research at Pfizer ($PFE)--and Rodin settled in at the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center in Boston and got cracking on its novel approach to diseases of cognition.
"Rodin has spent the last year validating the thesis that an unique chemistry approach, high-potential biology, and a strong team could drive generation of compelling therapies for CNS diseases," Booth said in a statement. "The Series A investment is a culmination of our efforts over the last 12 months to start a pre-eminent company in the field."
Since launching, Rodin has not only advanced its internal pipeline of epigenetic modulators but also licensed an additional series of chemicals developed by the Broad Institute. The biotech has also fleshed out its scientific advisory board, chaired by MIT's Li-Huei Tsai and including minds from J&J, Broad, Germany's University of Gottingen, Massachusetts General Hospital and elsewhere.
Now, with theses validated and experts assembled, Rodin has $12.9 million to head back to the lab and see if it can make clinical therapies out of its promising candidates.
- read the announcement