Ribometrix, a Durham, N.C.-based biotechnology company developing small molecule therapeutics that directly target RNA to treat human diseases, raised $7.8m in funding.
Backers included existing investors the Dementia Discovery Fund and Illumina Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds for the continued development of its discovery platform.
Led by Michael Solomon, Ph.D., chief executive officer, Ribometrix provides a discovery platform which uses structural analysis and proprietary assays to identify ligands that bind to highly structured pockets in therapeutically compelling RNAs to modulate protein expression.
The company also announced the appointment of Mike Clayman, M.D., as chairman of the board of directors.
Dr. Clayman co-founded Flexion Therapeutics in 2007 and has since served as its president and CEO, guiding the discovery and development of ZILRETTA® for osteoarthritis-related knee pain. He also serves as chairman of the board of AnokionSA, a Swiss biotechnology company focused on treating autoimmune disease.
Before founding Flexion, Dr. Clayman had a distinguished career at Eli Lilly and Company, leading numerous divisions engaged in a broad range of activities, from discovery research to clinical investigation to global regulatory affairs. Among his roles, he served as general manager of Chorus, Lilly’s early-phase development accelerator, and as vice president of Lilly Research Laboratories. Prior to Lilly, Dr. Clayman was an assistant professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where his research centered on the immunopathogenesis of renal disease. Dr. Clayman is the recipient of the Physician Scientist Award from the National Institutes of Health. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.D. from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
FinSMEs
27/09/2019