Ribometrix Completes $30 Million Financing

Rare Daily Staff

Ribometrix said it completed a $30 million series A financing to advance its discovery platform and internal pipeline of novel small molecule drugs that directly modulate RNA activity, as well as expand its team and business development efforts.

M Ventures led the round, with participation from new investors Amgen Ventures, Pappas Capital and Illumina Ventures. Founding investors SV Health Investors, AbbVie Ventures, Hatteras Venture Partners, MP Healthcare Venture Management, the Dementia Discovery Fund and Alexandria Venture Investments also joined the round. Hakan Goker, senior investment director for M Ventures, joined the board as a non-executive director.

Ribometrix’s discovery pipeline focuses on targeting RNA molecules that fold into complex 3D structures yielding pockets amenable to small molecules with high selectivity and favorable drug-like characteristics. The company’s platform provides an analysis of small molecule-RNA interactions, including 3D structural information, based on the inventions of the company’s scientific co-founder, Kevin Weeks, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ribometrix is leveraging this platform to identify and optimize compounds to progress a broad pipeline of small molecule drug candidates.

“The ability to target RNA directly with small molecules offers the potential to unlock large, previously ‘undruggable’ target classes that could revolutionize the treatment of a wide variety of diseases,” said M Venture’s Goker.

Michael Solomon, CEO of Ribometrix, said with unique expertise around RNA, an expanding drug discovery team and a broad platform of complementary small molecule and RNA target discovery technologies, the company is well positioned to advance a broad pipeline of compelling drug programs.

“A huge medical opportunity awaits RNA-targeting small molecules that can be designed in a systematic fashion, analogous to discovery methods currently employed for protein targets,” he said.

November 13, 2018
Photo: Michael Solomon, CEO of the Ribometrix