Immuneel is a pioneering clinical stage start-up company leading the change in cell & gene therapies & personalized immunotherapy for patients in India. Headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Immuneel is a research-led, fully integrated cell & gene therapies company committed to bringing breakthrough cancer treatments to India, affordably & build a portfolio of next generation cell therapies.
Predicting the structure and nature of protein-ligand interactions could enable a revolution in virtual screening potentially addressing difficult-to-drug molecular targets.
Over the past decade, we have witnessed rapid progress in AI and have kept a keen eye on recent advancements in protein structure prediction. Laksh Aithani, founder of genei and a former machine learning expert at Exscientia, shares our belief that the potential for deep learning could transform next-generation structure-guided drug discovery efforts.
We helped connect Laksh to David Baker, PhD, winner of the Breakthrough Prize for his work in novel protein design and a world-renowned leader in predicting accurate three-dimensional structures of proteins – arguably the most significant breakthrough in applying AI to life sciences – whom we had worked with in the early days of Sana Biotechnology. Together, they fused a vision and plan to address the “protein-ligand” problem, fueling the creation of CHARM Tx to harness the power of 3D deep learning to deliver breakthrough medicines.
“Without F-Prime, CHARM simply would not exist. F-Prime played a crucial role in syndicating the financing, building the initial business plan and recruiting stellar co-founders, executives and board members to the team.”
—Laksh Aithani, Co-Founder, CEO
At F-Prime, we have a passion for helping build early-stage companies and believe in providing support beyond our initial investment. While Laksh worked out of our London office, F-Prime Partner Nihal Sinha, MD, Venture Partner Muz Mansuri, PhD, and Senior Associate Martin Taylor, PhD, helped to establish the company by assisting with initial hiring, business plan development and advisory network creation. Under the leadership of Laksh as CEO, CHARM Tx recently came out of stealth mode with a $50 million seed financing co-led by OrbiMed and appointed the Founder and CEO of Odyssey Therapeutics, Gary Glick, PhD, as its Executive Chairman.
CHARM Tx brings a profound problem to the forefront of drug discovery and has the team and technology to translate hope into promise for patients with cancer and other diseases.
CHARM Therapeutics is a 3D deep-learning research Company discovering and developing transformational medicines. Based on the award-winning discoveries of David Baker in protein-folding, CHARM has developed a proprietary technology based on the first rapid, accurate protein/ligand co-folding algorithm. The Company’s mission is to use these insights to address challenging targets in cancer and other disease areas and discover and develop new drugs against these targets.
Invetx is a pioneer in creating novel, protein-based animal health therapeutics to transform standards of care in veterinary medicine. The company leverages a best-in-class, fully integrated biotechnology platform for the discovery, development, and manufacturing of veterinary monoclonal antibodies, and is developing a diverse product pipeline addressing chronic and severe diseases in the veterinary species. In July 2024, Invetx was acquired by Dechra Pharmaceuticals Limited (Dechra), a global specialist veterinary pharmaceuticals business.
Anastasiya is a Senior Associate with F-Prime’s London team, focusing on healthcare investments. Prior to joining F-Prime in 2022, Ana was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey in London specializing in Pharmaceuticals & Medical Products. She had also worked as a Strategy Consultant at Advancy.
Ana holds a PhD in Stem Cell Biology and Medicine from the University of Cambridge (UK), a MSc in Molecular and Cell Biology from École normale supérieure (Paris, France) and a BSc in Biology from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Ukraine).
Silexon is an emerging AI-empowered technology company which aims to create an open AI platform for strategic collaboration in order to facilitate data-driven life science research and empower drug R&D process, and ultimately provide patients with greater access to innovative drugs for unmet medical needs.
OriGynMED is a developer of medical devices designed for women’s health. The company is mainly engaged in developing various gynecology medical devices such as hysterectomy cold knife and functional hysteroscope, enabling client to improve treatment effect.
Pediatrix Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical company focused on the field of pediatrics by developing and introducing effective and clinically proven children’s medicines to provide Chinese children and families with high-quality and affordable treatment options.
F-Prime has long been interested in precision medicine approaches that tackle the underlying cause of diseases, ranging from investments in small molecules (e.g., Blueprint Medicines) to gene editing technologies (e.g., Beam Therapeutics).
In 2020, we developed an interest in the epigenetic modulation of oncogenic pathways and came across a small molecule inhibitor of MMSET, known as KTX-1001. MMSET is a histone methyltransferase that is overexpressed due to the t(4;14) translocation that is present in up to 20% of multiple myeloma patients. This target has been highly evasive, with several companies trying and failing to develop a direct inhibitor. When we learned that there was a first-in-class, selective MMSET inhibitor available for licensing, we saw a unique opportunity to build a company dedicated to advancing drugs against MMSET, and potentially other similarly compelling epigenetic targets in cancer.
We found partners early on that were similarly eager to help build and ensure the long-term success of the company, including Atlas Venture and academic thought leaders in methyltransferase biology such as Or Gozani, MD, PhD, Professor of Biology at Stanford University. Our sister fund, Eight Roads Ventures, also joined the syndicate. K36 recently emerged from stealth with experienced biotech executive Terry Connolly leading the company as CEO, and industry veteran Lori Kunkel, MD, joining the Board of Directors. With the $30M Series A financing, co-led by F-Prime, K36 is well positioned to progress KTX-1001 through the clinic and plans to submit an IND for KTX-1001 in the first half of 2022.
“From the beginning, F-Prime championed/advocated the founding of our company. F-Prime partner and K36 board member, Chong Xu, PhD, helped negotiate the license and assembled the Scientific Advisory Board. Together, we work to put precision medicine on the forefront to help patients.”
Terry Connolly, PhD, CEO
While we are fortunate to have many more available therapeutic options for multiple myeloma patients today, the t(4;14) translocation is classified as a high risk genetic alteration and is associated with a poorer prognosis. We believe that direct MMSET inhibition represents a promising new modality that can benefit this population of multiple myeloma patients. This is a great opportunity and we are very proud to support K36 on its mission to develop small molecule epigenetic modulators and breakthrough precision medicines that address the unmet medical needs of cancer patients worldwide.
K36 Therapeutics was established with the mission to translate epigenetic modulation of oncogenic pathways into first-in-class small molecule therapies. Its vision is to create breakthrough therapies for the unmet medical needs of cancer patients worldwide.