TLDR:
- Talus Bioscience raises $11.2 million in early fundraising round to advance preclinical cancer programs.
- California VC Two Bear Capital leads the “seed+” round, with participation from other venture capital firms.
Seattle-based Talus Bioscience has secured $11.2 million in an early fundraising round to further its portfolio of preclinical cancer programs and enhance its drug discovery platform. The funds raised will be utilized to target a challenging transcription factor associated with prostate cancer, as well as brachyury-driven cancers, particularly chordoma—a rare bone tumor. Transcription factors are critical in regulating gene expression, and Talus Bio aims to develop therapies by manipulating these factors.
Two Bear Capital from California led the “seed+” round, with contributions from other key players in the venture capital industry. Talus Bio will use the newly acquired funds to expand its therapeutics discovery platform, MARMOT, which combines AI, proteomics, chemistry, and computational biology to identify potential drug candidates quickly.
Co-founder and CEO Alex Federation, Ph.D., expressed excitement about the future prospects of the company, with a focus on leveraging data science to predict new molecules that can block disease-causing transcription factors. Since its establishment in 2020, Talus Bio has been dedicated to addressing historically challenging targets in the field of oncology by disrupting the binding of transcription factors to DNA.
Overall, the company’s innovative approach, led by a team of experts and supported by significant grants and venture capital funding, positions Talus Bioscience as a promising player in the biotech industry.
