TRIANA Biomedicines Launches With $110M to Unlock the Full Potential of Molecular Glues
A premier, target-first and rational molecular glue discovery platform to identify preferred E3 ligases for priority disease targets
Series A will fund activities to identify multiple, rationally designed molecular glue clinical candidates
Dr. Patrick Trojer joins as President & CEO & Board Director
Boston, MA - April 6th 2022 - TRIANA Biomedicines, Inc. (Triana) today announced their launch with $110 million in total funding to establish a best-in-class, scalable platform to discover and develop “molecular glues”. Triana’s platform aims to generate products that stabilize pre-existing or create de novo interactions between two proteins and alter the fate or functionality of the disease target. Molecular glues may allow for the pursuit of highly disease-relevant targets long considered undruggable or inadequately addressed by traditional drug discovery approaches.
Triana was originally seeded by RA Capital Management and Atlas Venture. This Series A is co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and the company's seed investors. Pfizer Ventures, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company) and Logos Capital also participate in this round. In November of 2021, Dr. Patrick Trojer joined Triana as President & CEO to lead the company’s funding efforts. Dr. Trojer previously served as CSO of Constellation Pharmaceuticals. In addition to Dr. Trojer, the leadership team includes CTO and co-founder Dr. Jesse Chen, CSO Dr. Jean-Christophe Harmange and SVP of Biology Dr. Kathleen Seyb.
By pursuing both a target-first and rational approach to molecular glue discovery, Triana aspires to develop products for a wide range of therapeutic applications. The company’s innovative platform enables evaluation and prioritization of over 600 known E3 ubiquitin ligases and their disease-relevant targets, and rapid exploration of diverse chemical space for identification of molecular glue degraders.
“Triana aims to solve the number one problem in the molecular glue field by selecting the best available ligase for each target to enable systematic molecular glue discovery,” said Dr. Trojer.
Dr. Trojer serves on the Triana Board of Directors alongside institutional directors Atlas Partner Dr. David Grayzel, RA Capital Managing Director Dr. Josh Resnick, Lightspeed Partner Dr. Shelley Chu, Executive Director at Pfizer and Pfizer Ventures Partner Dr. Christopher O’Donnell, and independently elected directors of the board Dr. Simon Read, Jigar Raythatha and Dr. Milind Deshpande.
“We are excited to lead the Series A for Triana, which operates at the compelling and unique intersection of machine learning, structural biophysics and glue-focused DEL screening,” said Dr. Chu.
“Triana is pioneering the next frontier in targeted protein degradation,” said Dr. Resnick. “Building on our past support for companies working on induced proximity, Triana extends the profound benefits of degradation with rational glue discovery.”
“Triana has built a world-leading team to develop glues,” said Dr. Grayzel. “Together with our co-founders and outstanding scientific advisors in ubiquitin biology, machine learning and targeted protein degradation, we are uniquely positioned to create new medicines for patients.”
In addition to Dr. Tom Kodadek of Scripps, Triana’s scientific advisory board includes Dr. Michele Pagano of NYU and HHMI, Dr. John Karanicolas of the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Dr. Danny Huang of the Beatson Institute and Dr. Fleur Ferguson of UCSD.
About TRIANA Biomedicines Inc
TRIANA Biomedicines is a greater Boston biotechnology company building the leading molecular glue discovery platform to regulate disease targets that are difficult to address with any other modality. TRIANA’s drug discovery engine is powered by high- resolution structural insights, state-of-the-art AI and computational tools, and bespoke chemical libraries. TRIANA’s target first and rational approach to molecular glue discovery is currently focused on inducing or enhancing the degradation of high-profile cancer targets. The therapeutic approach pioneered by TRIANA has the potential to fundamentally change the paradigm of small molecule drug discovery and bring significant therapeutic benefits to patients.
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Kia Khaleghpour, PhD