Superluminal Medicines Launches with $33 Million Seed Round to Fuel its Drug Discovery Engine and Pipeline of Small Molecule Therapeutics
BOSTON, Aug. 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Superluminal Medicines Inc., a generative biology and chemistry company developing a differentiated pipeline and revolutionizing the speed and accuracy of how medicine is created, today announced the closing of a $33 million funding round. The investment was led by RA Capital Management with significant participation from Insight Partners and NVIDIA. Gaingels also joined in the financing.
The funding will be used to progress Superluminal’s pipeline of small molecule drug discovery programs initially focused on high-value G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) targets. The company’s pipeline stems from its platform, which creates candidate-ready compounds with differentiated TPPs in just months by utilizing a unique combination of human understanding, generative biology and chemistry, machine learning, and proprietary big data infrastructure.
“We are grateful to have the support of prominent investors as we set new expectations for the speed, accuracy and cost-effectiveness of drug discovery and development,” said Cony D’Cruz, CEO of Superluminal Medicines. “Our deep understanding of biology and our ability to employ the technology and tools necessary to effectively explore and manipulate that biology are critical differentiators that we believe will ultimately enable us to develop therapeutics.”
“The speed at which Superluminal has gone from prediction to structure validation and first biological hits is unprecedented,” said Andrew Levin, MD, PhD, Partner and Managing Director at RA Capital Management. “Superluminal’s ingenuity in combining biology, chemistry and technology holds immense potential to accelerate drug discovery and increase the probability of success in small molecule drug development. We are excited to support the Superluminal team as it advances its differentiated approach toward lead program candidate selection.”
GPCRs are a large family of integral membrane proteins that act as key regulators of cellular signaling. Out of 850 GPCRs, 70% are undrugged and only 138 have experimental active-state protein structures.
“The decision to focus on GPCRs was driven by our desire to study proteins in their natural state. Our approach allows us to interrogate proteins in a dynamic sense, exploring the multitude of conformations a protein can adopt,” said Mr. D’Cruz. “By understanding and leveraging these dynamic properties, we can intervene in a positive manner within the natural context of the cell and the body.”
World-Class Team
Superluminal is building a world-class team comprised of experienced biologists, chemists, drug developers and AI/ML experts. The company’s leadership includes: Cony D’Cruz, Co-Founder & CEO; Ajay Yekkirala, Co-Founder & SVP, Head of Discovery; Yang-Ming Zhu, SVP, Head of Engineering; Yamina A. Berchiche, Senior Director, Biology; Marek Orzechowski, Director, Computational Chemistry; and Murco Ringnalda, SVP, Head of Operations.
The company’s board of directors offers a wealth of industry expertise to guide Superluminal. The board includes: Andrew Levin, MD, PhD, Partner and Managing Director at RA Capital Management; Dylan Morris, Managing Director at Insight Partners; and Cony D’Cruz, Chief Executive Officer of Superluminal Medicines.
About Superluminal Medicines Inc.
Superluminal Medicines is a generative biology and chemistry company developing a differentiated pipeline and revolutionizing the speed and accuracy of how medicine is created. The company’s platform creates candidate-ready compounds with unprecedented speed using a comprehensive combination of deep biology and chemistry expertise, machine learning, and proprietary big data infrastructure. The predict-design-test architecture accurately models protein shapes and designs highly selective compounds to target the precise structural change for therapeutic effect. Its discovery engine is powered by an industry-leading, pharmacokinetic and toxicology in silico prediction capability. With a lead program candidate expected in the near term, the company’s proprietary pipeline validates its platform with initial programs focused on high-value GPCR targets. Based in Boston, the company is backed by a strong network of investors including RA Capital, Insight Partners, NVIDIA and Gaingels. For more, visit www.superluminalrx.com.
About RA Capital Management
RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare and life science companies that are developing drugs, medical devices, and diagnostics. The flexibility of its strategy allows RA Capital to provide seed funding to startups and to lead private, IPO, and follow-on financings for its portfolio companies, allowing management teams to drive value creation from inception through commercialization. For more information, please visit www.racap.com.
About Insight Partners
Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of December 31, 2022, the firm has over $75B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 750 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Palo Alto. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with right-sized, right-time practical, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit www.insightpartners.com.
