Family Offices Bet on Fungus Drug Discovery by Backing LifeMine Therapeutics for Series C Round
Posted on 03/26/2022
LifeMine Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company reinventing drug discovery by mining genetically-encoded small molecules (GEMs) from the biosphere. LifeMine Therapeutics raised US$ 175 million in a Series C financing round. The financing was led by new investor Fidelity Management & Research Company, with participation by additional new investors Invus and 3W Partners Capital; GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) also joined the round as a strategic partner. Existing investors, including GV (part of Alphabet), Arch Venture Partners, Blue Pool Capital, and MRL Ventures Fund, also participated. MRL Ventures is Merck’s independent early-stage therapeutics venture capital fund.
In January 2021, LifeMine Therapeutics raised US$ 50 million Series B financing. The Series B financing was led by Rick Klausner and Milky Way Investments, with participation from existing investors GV, WuXi Healthcare Ventures, Foresite Capital, Arch Venture Partners, Blue Pool Capital, and MRL Ventures Fund.
LifeMine’s drug discovery platform horizontally integrates diverse advanced technologies and disciplines including high-throughput microbiology and multi-omics technologies, advanced data science and deep learning, synthetic biology, as well as human disease biology and precision structural engineering of architecturally complex organic molecules, to rapidly discover novel small molecule therapies via interrogation of the fungal biosphere. The company is trying understand fungi and its potential for medicines. Fungi was once a major source of drug discovery. For example, Penicillin is an antibiotic isolated from growing Penicillium mold in a fermenter.
Keywords: Invus Group Family Office.
NOTES: GV = formerly Google Ventures
