Anchor Therapeutics Nabs $10M for New Class of Peptide Drugs Against Hard Targets

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Anchor Therapeutics today announced an initial closing of $10 million in a Series B financing. The investment is being led by current investors TVM Capital, HealthCare Ventures and the Novartis Option Fund. The company is in continuing discussions with additional investors interested in joining the Series B. Anchor Therapeutics is focused on developing peptide drug candidates, called pepducins, that modulate G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), particularly those historically difficult to target using standard pharmaceutical approaches.

“Our team at Anchor has made tremendous progress advancing pepducin technology and establishing preclinical proof-of-concept in multiple targets and disease areas”

“Our team at Anchor has made tremendous progress advancing pepducin technology and establishing preclinical proof-of-concept in multiple targets and disease areas,” commented Frederick Jones, M.D., President and CEO of Anchor. “We continue to be excited about the prospects for this technology to lead to a new class of drugs that target GPCRs. Our investors’ renewed financial commitment is a strong statement of support for this groundbreaking opportunity.”

About Pepducin Technology

Pepducins are novel, allosteric modulators for G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) targets, especially those intractable to current approaches. They are composed of a short peptide derived from a GPCR intracellular loop linked to a lipid moiety. This structure allows pepducins to anchor in the cell membrane and target the GPCR protein via a unique intracellular allosteric mechanism. The pepducin technology platform represents an entirely new paradigm for modulating GPCR signal transduction, potentially transforming the scope of GPCR therapeutics to treat a much wider range of serious illnesses including inflammatory and metabolic diseases. Pepducin technology is licensed exclusively to Anchor Therapeutics.

About Anchor Therapeutics

Anchor Therapeutics is developing first-in-class pepducin drug candidates, novel molecules that can selectively target G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) to allosterically modulate GPCR signaling. For more information, please visit www.anchortx.com.

Back to news