Octant Raises $80 Million to Expand Drug Discovery Platform, Collaborates with Bristol Myers Squibb

Octant, a company developing programmable biology and chemistry to build precision medicines for complex diseases, raised $80 million in a series B financing round to advance its drug discovery technology and announced a collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb under which Octant will apply its technologies to a set of inflammation-related pathways.

Photo: Sri Kosuri, CEO and co-founder of Octant

Catalio Capital Management led the financing with participation from Bristol Myers Squibb, and existing investors Andreessen Horowitz Bio Fund, Allen & Co., and 50 Years VC.

Octant’s platform leverages synthetic biology, high throughput multiplexed assays, synthetic chemistry, and computation to engineer and interrogate drugs, proteins, and cellular pathways at unprecedented scales in a quest for safer, more effective, and cheaper drugs.

Proceeds from the Series B round will be used to further expand Octant’s platform capabilities and pipeline, advance its proprietary drug discovery technology, and generate extensive datasets that map the relationships between drug candidates, genetics, and the biochemical mechanisms of human cells. Octant also plans to develop multiple additional therapeutic programs in small molecule chaperone therapies for rare genetic diseases.

“Achieving these significant milestones reflects Octant’s strong momentum, and we are grateful for the ongoing support from our world-class investors and collaborators who believe in our team and our work,” said Sri Kosuri, CEO and co-founder of Octant. “This investment will help propel Octant forward in all facets of our business and accelerate our ability to develop life-changing drugs and therapies for some of the world’s most challenging diseases.”

Octant also entered a Deep Mutational Scanning (DMS) biopharma partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb where it will apply its DMS technologies to a set of inflammation-related pathways.

Author: Rare Daily Staff