PharmEnable, a drug discovery company focused on chemical novelty, diversity and complexity, announces it has closed a Pre-Series A investment round of $7.5M to develop the next generation of small molecule drugs against disease areas of high clinical need.
The funding round was led by MP Healthcare Venture Management (MPH), the venture arm of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Group, with additional participation from existing investors including Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of the University of Cambridge, University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund VIII, managed by Parkwalk Advisors, Heyford Trust, o2h Ventures, Martlet Capital, Arrowfield Capital, Wren Capital and life science angel investors including Jonathan Milner.
The funds will be used to advance and expand PharmEnable’s portfolio of wholly-owned and co-discovery projects across oncology and neurology targets, as well as supporting further platform R&D.
PharmEnable uses its proprietary platform to discover targeted therapies with the aim of replicating the specificity of biologics, but with improved efficacy, absorption and distribution properties enabled by custom-designed oral small molecules, which are also easier to scale and manufacture. The company’s approach combines advanced medicinal chemistry with state-of-the-art AI technology, allowing it to unlock challenging biological targets by mapping unexplored chemical space.
This approach delivers novel proprietary candidate drug molecules with the required 3-dimensional structure elements that lead to improved selectivity and ultimately reduce attrition rates. The aim is to develop therapies that are highly effective with fewer side effects to treat diseases with a high clinical need.
PharmEnable pipeline
PharmEnable has a pipeline of wholly-owned oncology programs, as well as ongoing co-discovery projects with several pharma and biotech companies, including a partnership with Sosei Heptares to unlock novel drug candidates for neurological disease. The wholly-owned programs focus on addressing some of the key challenges in oncology such as tumor penetration and overcoming resistance mechanisms, through designing novel, complex small molecules with improved selectivity and carefully balanced properties.
CEO of PharmEnable, Hannah Sore, said: “At PharmEnable, we believe that everyone deserves safe and effective treatments, and we are committed to applying the principles of chemical novelty, diversity and 3-dimensionality to design powerful new small molecule drugs. I am delighted that MP Healthcare has led our Pre-Series A to enable our mission to deliver life-changing medicines to patients who need them.”