Quench Bio, a US-based inflammatory disease drug developer backed by pharmaceutical firm AbbVie, announced yesterday that it was shutting down.
Founded in 2018, Quench Bio was hoping to develop therapies that inhibit the gasdermin D protein. It had set its sights on conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
The company took the decision after its target proved undruggable. It will return capital to investors and, in due course, publish key findings into gasdermin D, which plays a role in inflammatory diseases, though its mechanisms are not yet fully understood.
Quench Bio also held an auction for its assets, won by an as-yet-undisclosed party. It was co-founded and seeded by Atlas Venture and Arix Bioscience, and both returned for a $50m series A round in January 2020 led by RA Capital Management and also backed by AbbVie unit AbbVie Ventures.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.
