Fulcrum Therapeutics Completes $80 Million Financing to Advance Rare Disease Pipeline

Rare Daily Staff

Fulcrum Therapeutics said it completed an $80 million financing, which will be used to advance into clinical testing the company’s lead program in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) and progress its pipeline of therapeutics for rare disorders.

Foresite Capital led the financing with participation by Fidelity, 6 Dimensions Capital, Casdin Capital, Sanofi Ventures, Section 32, NS Investments, entities affiliated with Leerink Partners, and undisclosed institutional investors. Jim Tananbaum, CEO and managing director of Foresite Capital will join the Board of Directors at Fulcrum.

Fulcrum is pioneering a small molecule, precision medicine approach to address serious monogenic and prevalent diseases of gene misregulation. By focusing on disease-causative genes, the company is unlocking druggable mechanisms that regulate disease to develop a new generation of therapies in various therapeutic areas. In partnership with the FSHD Clinical Trial Research Network, the company has initiated clinical trial readiness studies in FSHD. The aim of the studies is to standardize a set of tools and measurements for Fulcrum’s future clinical drug trials.

“Fulcrum is leading the way with their small molecule, precision medicine approach to treating severe genetic diseases,” said Foresite’s Tananbaum. “We believe the convergence of biology and data science will be the key to unlocking novel treatments for patients and families that have run out of options. We look forward to supporting the Fulcrum team as it works to advance its rare disease-focused pipeline.”

September 5, 2018
Photo: Jim Tananbaum, CEO and managing director of Foresite Capital