Fauna Bio, an Emeryville, Calif.-based biotechnology company leveraging animal genomics to improve human health, raised $9m in Seed funding.
The round was led by LifeForce Capital, with participation from True Ventures, Boom Capital, Pacific 8 Ventures, BioMed Ventures, Vibe Capital and Arcadia Science.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its drug discovery platform Convergence while accelerating the discovery of new therapeutic targets for human diseases across a broad range of indications.
Led by Ashley Zehnder, DVM, Ph.D., CEO, Fauna Bio harnesses the power of comparative and functional genomics to find better therapies for human disease, including neurologic, metabolic, fibrotic, and cardiovascular disorders. The initial version of Convergence uses gene expression data from hibernating mammals due to their extreme biology and their remarkable ability to reverse disease-causing traits. The platform has so far identified two compounds and four novel genetic targets currently undergoing evaluation for heart disease and related disorders. The company also collaborates with Novo Nordisk on a target discovery program for obesity. Additionally, Fauna Bio has identified seven novel genetic targets to reduce fibrosis, which is a core component of many chronic and debilitating diseases, including NASH and cardiovascular disease secondary to chronic kidney disease and diabetic cardiomyopathy.
As the company advances its internal pipeline towards clinical testing, Bryan Burkey, Ph.D., has joined Fauna Bio as Head of Therapeutics Discovery. Dr. Burkey is an experienced drug discovery and development professional who has led and contributed, to efforts ranging from target discovery to NDA filing. He led biology and translational pharmacology efforts for 23 years at Novartis Research, in addition to five years at Zafgen, Inc., and most recently was the Head of Systems Biology at Walden Biosciences. Over his career, he developed expertise in metabolic and cardiovascular pharmacology as well as safety assessment.
FinSMEs
22/09/2021