Myrobalan Therapeutics – a biotechnology company developing novel oral neurorestorative therapies to repair damage and restore neural function in high-unmet need degenerative CNS conditions – recently announced the completion of a $24 million Series A funding. The funding was led by Co-win Ventures, with participation from new and existing investors, including Guan Zi Equity Investment (Li Shui) Partnership (Limited Partnership), 3E Bioventures Capital, and AB Magnitude Ventures Group.
CNS drug development has historically struggled from a lack of validated target biology, compounded by unique obstacles such as efficient blood-brain barrier penetration and the feasibility of long-term therapy with a convenient and tolerable dosing regimen. And Myrobalan has the potential to overcome such obstacles with the development of highly selective, brain-penetrant, orally available compounds against promising novel targets involved in demyelination and neuroinflammation. These untreatable disease mechanisms have been linked to multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and several rare neurological conditions.
Myrobalan is creating orally available small molecule neurorestorative therapies, including an antagonist to G-protein coupled receptor 17 (GPR17), a central target to promote remyelination; an inhibitor to colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R), which is involved in both demyelination and neuroinflammation; and an allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor, to reduce neuroinflammation. And Myrobalan plans to address a broad range of neurological conditions through these programs.
Myrobalan is headed by a team with significant research and business experience. Dr. Jing Wang co-founded the company in 2021 along with Dr. Zhigang He, Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, member of the National Academy of Medicine, and Dr. Guoping Feng, Poitras Chair Professor of Neuroscience in the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, Institute Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and member of the National Academy of Medicine. And Dr. Wang has held executive and leadership roles in neuroscience and oncology drug development at Curis, TESARO/GSK, and Constellation Pharmaceuticals, and successfully led multiple programs at various stages of development from discovery through commercialization. The company has also fielded a group of business advisors with extensive experience in biotech leadership, and a scientific advisory team with expertise in remyelination, neuroimmunology, drug design and clinical research.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our deep understanding of remyelination and neuroinflammation has broad application in high-unmet need CNS diseases. Propelled by our foundational science, strategic chemistry partnership, compelling preclinical data, and strong investors, Myrobalan is in a unique position to advance its neurorestorative candidates into the clinic.”
— Dr. Jing Wang, CEO & Co-Founder, Myrobalan Therapeutics
“Myrobalan’s approach to targeting GPR17, CSF1R, TYK2 and other key drivers of CNS disease is both novel and timely. Since our foundational research established the important roles these targets can play across multiple CNS diseases, it is exciting to see Myrobalan rapidly advancing these therapeutics for patients.”
— Co-founder Dr. He
“We are proud to support Myrobalan in their work to develop first-in-class neurorestorative therapies based on strong target biology and innovative drug design. And we are confident the Myrobalan team will continue advancing this rich pipeline into novel therapies. Myrobalan has the potential to change the narrative for patients with CNS disease.”
— Dr. Xin Huang, Managing Partner of Co-win Ventures
“As seed investor of Myrobalan, we are glad to witness the rapid progress of the pipelines and continuously provide support to the team. The company’s dual approach to promoting remyelination and controlling neuroinflammation is particularly exciting. Myrobalan Therapeutics’ unique strategy holds great promise in overcoming challenges associated with central nervous system diseases. We believe that their innovative research will bring about positive transformations for patients.”
— Dr. Frank Yan, Partner at 3E Bioventures Capital
