SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--f5 Therapeutics Incorporated, a privately-held pharmaceutical company developing small-molecule targeted protein degraders via their NExMods™ platform, today announced that they have been selected as a ‘Cool Company’ for the second year in a row. The renown ‘Cool Company’ program chooses a select few companies in the San Diego area and recognizes them for their potential for Series A funding with top venture capital firms. This year’s competition had 150 applicants.
f5 Therapeutics’ mission is the discovery of new therapeutic biology to address high unmet medical needs in oncology, immuno-oncology, fibrosis and NASH (non-alcoholic liver inflammation). Taking a novel approach to established protein degradation therapeutics, f5 Therapeutics’ platform exploits previously undiscovered biological advantages of degradation through utilization of cell-based assays with physiologically relevant endpoints. Despite only a year after founding, f5 Therapeutics has advanced multiple programs in oncology, auto-immune disease, liver fibrosis, and NASH. This unique approach to targeted protein degradation has led to the discovery of novel substrate targets that are currently not being pursued by other degrader companies.
Targeted protein degradation mediated by small-molecule degraders represents a new and exciting therapeutic modality to eliminate disease-causing proteins previously deemed “undruggable.” This drug discovery approach recruits E3 ubiquitin ligases to the disease driving protein of interest to mediate its ubiquitination and subsequent proteolysis by the proteasome. Molecular glues can degrade proteins lacking a binding site by facilitating interactions between target protein and ligase.
“We are again humbled by our selection as a 2022 Cool Company,” said Gary Choy, Co-Founder and CEO of f5 Therapeutics. “Since this time last year, we have validated our platform with positive in vivo data in a HepG2 Xenograft model and added an additional immune oncology program with positive in vitro data. Discovering novel targets was a hypothesis of our approach and we are incredibly excited to continue to validate and optimize against these targets with our next round of funding. Recognition by the independent panel of these accomplishments helps validate our methods and platform as we continue to raise capital to support our mission.”
“As one of the country’s first startup accelerators, Connect’s mission is to provide resources, support, and capital access to San Diego’s most promising startups,” said Mike Krenn, President and CEO of Connect, the organization that coordinates the annual ‘Cool Company’ capital program. “Working with esteemed sponsors, we are fortunate to choose among the areas ‘fastest and most exciting’ startups. f5 Therapeutics has advanced their platform considerably since their submission last year and our panel has recognized this progress in granting the designation for a second year in a row.”
About f5 Therapeutics Incorporated
f5 Therapeutics is a privately held pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of “First-in-Class” small molecules for the treatment of diseases with high unmet medical need. f5 Therapeutics continues to evolve targeted protein degradation to transform the landscape of drug discovery by utilizing the cell’s normal protein regulation systems to remove disease causing proteins that cannot be targeted by traditional approaches. The NExMods™ Platform (Neosubstrate Expression Modulators) represents a novel approach to “molecular glues” capable of delivering impactful medicines to patients across diverse therapeutic areas including oncology, immuno-oncology, fibrosis, inflammation, and neurodegeneration. To learn more: http://www.f5therapeutics.com
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http://www.f5therapeutics.com
