Startups, BioPharma

Arvinas raises $41.6M for protein degradation drugs

Yale spinout Arvinas just raised $41.6 million for its platform of protein degradation drugs - a different mechanism than the standard protein inhibition drugs on the market.

Yale University biotechnology spinout Arvinas just closed out a $41.6 million Series B round to develop a new class of drugs that are based on targeted protein degradation.

That is, the company’s harnessing the body’s own mechanisms that work to degrade and remove substances, and directing them toward pathogenic proteins. It uses small molecule drugs called Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) to label the rogue proteins for elimination.

The funding comes from the company’s primary investors – Canaan Partners and 5AM Ventures – as well as three new ones: RA Capital Management, OrbiMEd and New Leaf Venture Partners. The company’s Series A closed in 2013 with a $18.25 million round.

Arvinas’ science comes from the research of Yale University professor Craig Crews. His approach of labeling drugs for degradation differs from standard approaches to drug development that inhibit protein expression. Since only 25 percent of the body’s 20,000 proteins can be inhibited, Arvinas sys, this new approach may actually expand the number of disease-causing proteins that can be targeted by a new wave of drugs.

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