[September 15, 2014] |
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Scholar Rock Announces $20 Million Series A Financing
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --(Business Wire)--
Scholar Rock, a biotechnology company discovering and developing niche
modulators that selectively target protein growth factors in the disease
microenvironment, today announced a $20 million Series A financing.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance proprietary niche
modulators from preclinical research toward clinical drug development.
ARCH Venture Partners, a new investor, led the round with the
participation of founding investors, Polaris Partners and Timothy
Springer. Also participating in the round were new investors, EcoR1
Capital and The Kraft Group.
"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, PhD, Chief Executive Officer 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, founded by Professors Timothy Springer, PhD, and Leonard
Zon, MD, both of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School,
has developed a novel approach for selectively targeting protein growth
factors based on new understandings of their molecular mechanisms of
activation. Scholar Rock's niche modulator technology allows the
activation mechanism of protein growth factors to be selectively
regulated in the disease microenvironment of specific types of cells and
tissues. By doing so, these niche modulators ae able to control the key
functions of growth factors in cell growth and differentiation, as well
as to achieve highly specific therapeutic effects at the site of disease.
"Scholar Rock has assembled the expertise, technology and strategies to
transform a powerful area of biology using niche modulators into the
kind of new platform for drug development that we believe has the
potential to build extraordinary value with significant impact on major
diseases," said Kristina Burow, Managing Director of ARCH Venture
Partners.
"Growth factors have long been recognized as extremely important disease
targets. Scholar Rock's new paradigm of targeting these factors locally,
thereby avoiding undesirable systemic effects, is unique and holds the
promise of developing highly effective and safe therapeutics to treat
many difficult to treat diseases," said Amir Nashat, Chairman of Scholar
Rock and Managing General Partner of Polaris Partners.
Scholar Rock's current proprietary and partnered drug discovery programs
are focused on niche modulators that target specific growth factors,
including members of the TGF-beta superfamily, which are present in many
disease microenvironments. The company's R&D approach is yielding
therapeutic candidates designed to improve on current therapies by
having greater selectivity and potency, as well as to reduce systemic
side effects. Focus areas include fibrosis, musculoskeletal diseases and
autoimmunity. Scholar Rock has an ongoing research collaboration with
Johnson & Johnson Innovation and its affiliate Janssen Biotech, Inc., to
discover and develop novel biologic therapeutics that regulate signaling
in the immune system by targeting TGF-beta 1.
About Niche Modulators
Scholar Rock's therapeutics are designed to the target the activation
mechanism of protein growth factors selectively in the microenvironment
of specific types of cells and tissues. By doing so, these niche
modulators are able to achieve highly localized therapeutic effects at
the site of disease and also avoiding undesirable side effects that can
result from systemic modulation of such growth factors.
About Scholar Rock
Scholar Rock is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and
developing niche modulators, a novel class of biologic therapies that
selectively modulate the activation of growth factors in the disease
microenvironment. The Company's initial proprietary and partnered drug
discovery programs target specific growth factors, including members of
the TGF-beta superfamily, which are present in the microenvironments of
significant diseases such as fibrosis, diseases of the musculoskeletal
systems and autoimmune diseases. Scholar Rock was founded based on
discoveries made by its scientific founders, Professors Tim Springer,
PhD, and Leonard Zon, MD, of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard
Medical School, related to the molecular mechanisms of growth factor
activation. The company is backed by leading life sciences investors,
including Polaris Partners, Timothy Springer, ARCH Venture Partners,
EcoR1 Capital and The Kraft Group.
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