Vicinitas Therapeutics, a South San Francisco, CA-based biotechnology company advancing a proprietary targeted protein stabilization platform to develop novel therapeutics in cancer and genetic disorders, launched with $65m in Series A financing.
The round was co-led by a16z and Deerfield Management, with participation from Droia Ventures, GV, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research and the Berkeley Catalyst Fund.
Vicinitas Therapeutics is a spin-out company that resulted from the Deubiquitinase Targeting Chimera (, which was developed through an academic-industry research collaboration between the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
Vicinitas Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on targeted protein stabilizers known as Deubiquituinase Targeting Chimeras (DUBTACs). The company’s mission is to use this proprietary technology to solve critical problems in human health by developing next-generation disease therapies against an entire class of previously inaccessible disease-causing proteins. It was spun out of technology (the DUBTAC platform) that was developed through an academic-industry collaboration between Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
Vicinitas Therapeutics has exclusively licensed the DUBTAC platform and aims to become the leading company in targeted protein stabilization by developing next-generation disease therapies against an entire class of previously inaccessible aberrantly degraded proteins. The company is initially focused on developing therapies in cancer and monogenic diseases.
The leadership team includes:
- Daniel K. Nomura, Ph.D., Founder and Professor of Chemical Biology in the Departments of Chemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology and the Molecular Therapeutics Division, and Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, UC Berkeley; Investigator at the Innovative Genomics Institute
- Daniel Marquess, D.Phil, Chief Scientific Officer
- Joe Budman, Ph.D., Vice President of Biology
The board of directors includes:
- Jorge Conde, General Partner, a16z
- Cameron Wheeler, Ph.D., Partner, Deerfield Management
- George Golumbeski, Ph.D., Partner, Droia Ventures
- Daniel K. Nomura, Ph.D., Founder and Professor of Chemical Biology in the Departments of Chemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology and the Molecular Therapeutics Division, and Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, UC Berkeley; Investigator at the Innovative Genomics Institute
The scientific advisory board include:
- Daniel K. Nomura, Ph.D., Founder and Professor of Chemical Biology in the Departments of Chemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology and the Molecular Therapeutics Division, and Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, UC Berkeley; Investigator at the Innovative Genomics Institute
- Michael Rape, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley; Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Thomas Maimone, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, UC Berkeley
- James Olzmann, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Departments of Molecular and Cell Biology and Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, UC Berkeley; Investigator of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub
- Kevan Shokat, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, UCSF; Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- F. Dean Toste, Ph.D., Gerald E. K. Branch Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, UC Berkeley
- Angela Koehler, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biological Engineering, MIT, Associate Director, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT
FinSMEs
28/07/2022