PsiThera, a biotechnology company developing oral drugs for immune and inflammatory diseases, raised $25 million. New investors AbbVie Ventures and Lumination Capital joined the round. The financing will support its oral TNFα and TL1A programs.
Investor support
Existing lead investors Samsara BioCapital and Lightstone Ventures also participated. Claire Leurent, managing director at AbbVie Ventures, joined PsiThera's board. Other existing investors took part in the round.
Company pipeline
PsiThera is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts. It creates small molecule therapies for immune and inflammatory conditions. Its early programs target TNFα, TL1A, and IL-6.
Platform approach
The QUAISAR platform combines physics-based molecular simulation, machine learning, and experimental biophysics. It models protein motion to find transient binding pockets that conventional design cannot see. The company used this approach to move its TNFα program from hit identification to lead optimization in four months.
Next, PsiThera plans to nominate a development candidate for its oral TNFα inhibitor. The company will then begin IND-enabling studies. It also plans to advance oral TL1A inhibitors into lead optimization.