Constellation Pharmaceuticals Closes $22 Million in Series B Funding
-Proceeds to Broaden Leading Epigenetics Product Engine and Advance Pipeline towards the Clinic-
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing new drugs targeting epigenetic regulation of the human genome, today announced that it has raised $22 million in a Series B financing round. The financing round was led by SR One, the independent corporate healthcare venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline, with participation from existing investors Third Rock Ventures, The Column Group, Venrock, and Altitude Life Science Ventures. This Series B financing brings the total amount of capital raised by Constellation in the two years since its founding to $54 million.
"Our differentiated ability to develop a pipeline of drugs against a broad range of epigenetic target classes is a core feature of our business strategy, and this investment allows us to accelerate our efforts to bring these discoveries to the patient."
Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the development of Constellation's pipeline of compounds towards the clinic. These funds will also enable Constellation to continue applying its innovative epigenetics product engine to probe multiple classes of novel drug targets involved in chromatin regulation and disease.
"We are delighted to have SR One, a premier venture capital investor, lead the Series B round. Their investment highlights the value created since our Series A financing round and the transformative potential of epigenetics as a platform for novel therapeutics" said Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Constellation Pharmaceuticals. "Our differentiated ability to develop a pipeline of drugs against a broad range of epigenetic target classes is a core feature of our business strategy, and this investment allows us to accelerate our efforts to bring these discoveries to the patient."
About Constellation Pharmaceuticals
Constellation Pharmaceuticals is the leading biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics in the emerging field of epigenetics, a new field of science that focuses on selective regulators of gene function and expression. The Company's academic founders represent the core thought leaders in epigenetics and are responsible for numerous key advances in the field. Constellation Pharmaceuticals is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.constellationpharma.com.
Constellation's Board of Directors include: Mark Levin, Partner, Third Rock Ventures; David Goeddel, Ph.D., Partner, The Column Group; Anthony Evnin, Ph.D., Partner, Venrock; Tom Maniatis, Ph.D., Isidore S. Edelman Professor and Chairman, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University; Bob Tepper, M.D., Partner, Third Rock Ventures; and Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO, Constellation Pharmaceuticals.
About Epigenetics
Epigenetics is an exciting new field of biology that involves the study of chemical modifications of both DNA and of its packaging proteins ("chromatin"), which are collectively called the ‘epigenome'. The genome, or DNA, is the "blueprint" for the human body, consisting of thousands of genes, which are the fundamental units of information necessary for normal cell growth and development. The epigenome plays an important role in regulating the expression of genes, that is, switching genes on or off - or in the case of disease, for switching genes on or off incorrectly. This new field of epigenetic science provides the opportunity to create a broad new class of human therapeutics targeting enzymes that chemically modify DNA or chromatin and therefore influence gene expression.