US-based biotechnology company Scholar Rock has raised $20m in series A funding from investors including conglomerate Kraft Group.
Venture capital firms Arch Venture Partners, which led the round, Polaris Partners and EcoR1 Capital also took part, alongside Scholar Rock founder Timothy Springer.
Scholar Rock focuses on discovering and developing niche modulators that can work at the site of a disease withoutb side effects. The funding will be used to advance its proprietary modulators from the preclinical research stage toward clinical drug development.
“This financing by an investor group with deep experience in the life sciences industry underscores the tremendous progress that the Scholar Rock team has made in establishing a novel paradigm in biologic drug discovery,” said Nagesh Mahanthappa, chief executive and president of Scholar Rock.
“Our experienced leadership team is now ready to advance niche modulator therapeutics in important areas of unmet need such as fibrosis, musculoskeletal diseases, and autoimmunity.”
Scholar Rock’s technology is based on work from the Harvard Medical School labs of Tim Springer and Leonard Zon.