The corporate venturing units of three healthcare companies have joined a consortium investing in the $45m series A round of Effector Therapeutics, a US-based biopharmaceutical company named after the eponymous molecule that selectively binds to a protein and regulates its biological activity.
Novartis Venture Funds, GlaxoSmithKline’s SR One and Astellas Venture Management joined with venture capital (VC) firms, including US Venture Partners, Abingworth, Osage University Partners and Mission Bay Capital, in backing Effector.
Effector focuses on developing small molecule drugs to regulate protein synthesis, also known as translation. The funds will support multiple discovery programs and enable acquisition of tumor response data in patients for a lead drug candidate.
Larry Lasky, director at Effector and partner at US Venture Partners, said: “Effector’s is the kind of great science that VCs should be funding to build the pipeline of our next generation of medicines.”
Steve Worland, executive president at Effector, added: “It is particularly rewarding to bring together cutting edge science from the University of California San Francisco with experienced investors willing to fund innovation with sufficient capital to extend product development into the clinic.”