Rodeo Therapeutics has developed therapies to regenerate tissue, based on research undertaken at Case Western Reserve University and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
US-based small-molecule therapy developer Rodeo Therapeutics Corporation raised $5.9m in series A financing yesterday from investors including pharmaceutical firms AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and WuXi AppTec.
The round also featured Alexandria Venture Investments, the venture capital vehicle for real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, investment manager Accelerator Corporation, Arch Venture Partners, Watson Fund and WRF Capital.
AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson participated in the round through their respective corporate venturing units, AbbVie Ventures and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC.
Rodeo is developing small-molecule therapies that will help regenerate and repair various types of tissue, for use in dealing with conditions such as ulcerative colitis and, for haemopoietic recovery after bone marrow transplants.
The technology is based on research conducted at Case Western Reserve University (CRWU) and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSMC).
The three founding scientists are Sanford Markowitz, professor of cancer genetics CWRU’s School of Medicine, Stanton Gerson, director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and professor of haematological oncology at CWRU, and Joseph Ready, professor in the Department of Biochemistry at UTSMC and director of the Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory.
Markowitz said: “Tissue damage and degradation play critical roles in the development and progression of a broad array of disease indications, including a variety of inflammatory diseases.
“The ability to stimulate the body’s natural processes for tissue regeneration and repair has broad therapeutic potential in disease settings such as ulcerative colitis and in haemopoietic recovery following bone marrow transplantation.
“Rodeo Therapeutics is focused on developing small-molecule therapies that stimulate these processes and enable new approaches to address serious medical conditions that today have a substantial unmet medical need.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site Global Corporate Venturing.
