Dewpoint Therapeutics debuted Wednesday with $60 million in series A financing and a mission to develop a drug platform that targets biomolecular condensates, an “understudied” type of organelle found inside cells. The hope is a better understanding of these structures will pave the way for new approaches to treating “the toughest diseases.”
Polaris Partners led the series A round, with Samsara BioCapital, 6 Dimensions Capital, EcoR1 Capital and Leaps by Bayer also pitching in.
“We are thrilled to have the backing of a world class syndicate, an experienced team, and an interdisciplinary group of scientific advisors to tackle the important work of exploiting this long-overlooked arena of biology for drug discovery in areas of highest unmet medical need,” said Amir Nashat, managing partner of Polaris Partners and CEO of Dewpoint, in a statement.
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Biomolecular condensates are membraneless organelles whose main role is to compartmentalize reactants—such as proteins and nucleic acids—for chemical reactions within cells. Researchers and drug developers have long known about condensates, but haven’t yet considered them in their work because they are difficult to analyze with conventional drug discovery methods, such as protein crystallography, Dewpoint said in the statement. Dewpoint’s work will build on findings from founders Anthony Hyman of the Max Planck Institute and Richard Young of the Whitehead Institute.
Dewpoint will put together a team based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Dresden, Germany, to “industrialize the drugging of condensates." Other than announcing new board appointments and a stacked scientific advisory board that includes MIT professor Bob Langer, the company kept specifics under wraps.
It did not specify which therapeutic areas it plans to pursue but noted that diseases affecting condensates include cancer, cardiovascular conditions, immunology, neurodegenerative disorders, virology and women’s health.