US-based cancer and neurodegenerative disease therapy developer Plexium has emerged from stealth with $28m in series A funding from investors including M Ventures, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Merck Group.
Venture capital firms Data Collective and The Column Group (TCG) co-led the round, the latter through its DCVC Bio vehicle, while fellow VC firms CRV and Neotribe Ventures also took part.
Plexium is developing small molecule drugs intended to work through the modulation of a protein known as the E3 ligase in order to reduce the amount of protein in specifically targeted cells.
The company’s research involves using its DELPhe platform to screen and identify the small molecules that will have the biggest effect on the levels of protein and cellular RNA. Kiersten Stead and Tim Kutzkey, managing partners of DCVC Bio and TCG respectively, have joined its board of directors.
Kandaswamy (Swamy) Vijayan, Plexium’s founder and chief executive, said: “Inducing protein degradation by redirecting E3 ligases is an exciting therapeutic modality with immense potential to create safe and effective new medicines.
“The levels of a vast majority of proteins in the cell are modulated by E3 ligases, including disease targets considered ‘undruggable.’ DELPhe can efficiently identify therapeutic small molecules for the precise manipulation of E3 ligases, unlocking control of disease-modifying pathways.”
