Drug discovery technology start-up DyNAbind secures seed financing

08-May-2019 - Germany

DyNAbind’s Dynamic DNA-Encoded Library technology platform allows hundreds of millions of chemical structures to be simultaneously screened and optimized against a potential drug target protein. This innovation continues to be driven forward with investment from the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen (TGFS) and existing shareholder TUDAG – TU Dresden AG.

Tumisu, pixabay.com, CC0

Finding a new drug candidate can be like finding a needle in a haystack. Imagine that instead of checking one straw at a time, you had a magnet that could search the haystack all at once. DyNAbind is offering that magnet in the form of their proprietary Dynamic DNA-Encoded Library (D-DEL) technology platform. Chemical structures are tagged with unique barcodes made from DNA and mixed together. This library of chemicals is then simultaneously screened against a drug target protein of interest. D-DEL technology delivers results at over ten times the speed of classical discovery methods.

The complexity of modern drug targets has driven demand for robust, reliable discovery technologies with minimized risk. DyNAbind partners with pharma, biotech and academic organizations to meet these needs. The company has already publicly announced deals with groups including SoseiHeptares, Northwestern University Chicago and OMass Therapeutics. A DEL discovery kit is also offered in partnership with Merck KGaA (MilliporeSigma in the US).

DyNAbind co-founder and CEO Mike Thompson is looking forward to putting this investment to good use. “It’s exciting for us to have closed this financing round. HTGF and TGFS have a strong track record in Germany, and we’re honoured that TUDAG has chosen to invest in DyNAbind for a second time. These funds will allow us to build up a new, larger lab space and expand our team to meet the increasing demand we’re getting from the market.”

Fabian Mohr, Investmentmanager at High-Tech Gründerfonds, summarizes their investment thesis: “DyNabind’s technology solves many obstacles of conventional offerings in the current market. We are convinced that the patented dynamic library design and the current selection of fragments and small-molecules in a favourable chemical space will strongly enable DyNabind to grow their business and create value for their customers.”

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