Superluminal Secures $120 Million to Boost GPCR Drug Discovery

Superluminal Medicines has closed a $120 mn Series-A funding round to accelerate its drug discovery efforts focused on G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) targets, a key class of membrane proteins involved in many diseases. The company employs a combination of generative biology, chemistry, and machine learning to rapidly develop candidate-ready compounds, focusing on membrane receptors that are often challenging to target.

The financing, led by RA Capital Management and supported by new and existing investors, including Eli Lilly and NVentures, will be used to advance Superluminal’s lead programs into clinical development, and expand its small molecule pipeline.

Superluminal Medicines, Inc., “The Membrane Company” using generative biology, chemistry, and machine learning approaches to revolutionize the speed and accuracy of how medicines are created, today announced the closing of a $120 million Series A funding round. RA Capital Management led the investment, with participation from existing investors Insight Partners, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), and Gaingels. New investors Catalio Capital Management, Eli Lilly and Company, and Cooley LLP joined in the financing, and Diamantis Xylas, MD of Catalio joined the Board of Directors.

The funds will support the progression of Superluminal’s lead program into clinical development and increase the number of small molecule drug discovery programs focused on high-value G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) targets. The company’s platform rapidly creates candidate-ready compounds by utilizing a unique combination of human understanding, generative biology, chemistry, machine learning, and proprietary big data infrastructure.

“We are grateful to have the continued support of our renowned seed investors and prominent new investors as we rapidly progress our existing high-value programs and expand our pipeline,” said Cony D'Cruz, CEO of Superluminal Medicines. “We are advancing six small molecule programs and continue to build a discovery platform to quickly and efficiently generate therapeutics for any membrane drug target.”

“We continue to be impressed by the speed at which Superluminal has progressed its existing programs for really challenging drug targets,” said Andrew Levin, MD, PhD, Partner and Managing Director at RA Capital Management. “Superluminal’s platform and team have demonstrated success, and we are pleased to continue to support the company’s further growth and development.”

Superluminal’s focus is on membrane receptors that mediate cell signaling and response processes fundamental to human physiology and constitute major classes of drug targets–including GPCRs, ion channels, and transporters. GPCRs are a large family of integral membrane proteins that are drug targets for ~35% of all approved drugs. Yet 70% of the more than 800 GPCRs are undrugged and only 138 have experimental active-state protein structures.

“Our approach allows us to interrogate proteins dynamically, exploring the variety of conformations a protein can adopt, which is critical to identifying specific disease states mediated by membrane receptors,” said Mr. D'Cruz. “By understanding and leveraging these dynamic properties, we can intervene positively within the natural context of the cell and the body.”

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