Morphic Therapeutic Announces $80M

Morphic Therapeutic, a biotechnology company developing a new generation of oral integrin therapies, announced today that it has completed a $80 million Series B financing to fund its two lead programs through clinical proof of concept, and to advance multiple other programs into the clinic. The round was co-led by Omega Funds and Novo Holdings. In connection with their investments, Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D., Managing Director at Omega Funds and Nilesh Kumar, Ph.D., Partner at Novo Ventures have joined Morphic's Board of Directors. New investors, including Invus and EcoR1 Capital, in addition to Morphic's Series A investors, also participated in the Series B Financing.

"We are drawn to Morphic by the clear clinical promise of the company's platform, and the wide range of patients who stand to benefit from the creation of oral integrin therapeutics. We look forward to supporting Morphic's progress through clinical development."

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"Over the past two years we have made exceptional progress in establishing what we believe is the world's only broad-based structure enabled integrin drug discovery platform, leveraging insights from the Springer lab," said Praveen Tipirneni, M.D., President & Chief Executive Officer of Morphic Therapeutic. "With compelling preclinical data across a number of programs, we are accelerating our advance into the clinic. We welcome the support of both new and existing investors, including several crossover investors, in our efforts to advance a new generation of oral integrin drugs to treat a diverse range of diseases that present significant unmet medical needs."

"The Morphic team's achievements underscore the value of their foundational collaborations with the Springer lab and Schrodinger," said Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D., Managing Director at Omega Funds. "We are drawn to Morphic by the clear clinical promise of the company's platform, and the wide range of patients who stand to benefit from the creation of oral integrin therapeutics. We look forward to supporting Morphic's progress through clinical development."

"Morphic's platform has yielded several novel oral drug candidates targeting integrins in several major indications," said Nilesh Kumar, Ph.D., Partner at Novo Ventures, a U.S.-based affiliate of and advisor to Novo Holdings. "Led by great science and a strong team they have delivered major milestones in laying the foundation for clinical success and we are excited to support their unique programs and platform."

About Integrins

Integrins are a ubiquitous family of receptors expressed on the surface of most human cells. Integrin signaling controls a wide range of cellular processes, including cell survival, cell cycle progression, immune system activation, cell differentiation and cell migration. Aberrant signaling contributes to a diverse array of human diseases, including each of Morphic Therapeutic's focus areas of fibrosis, autoimmune diseases and immuno-oncology.

Research in the Springer laboratory has demonstrated that, historically, compounds designed to turn off integrin activity inadvertently worked to promote it, leading to the subsequent failure of oral drug candidates directed at integrin targets. Morphic is leveraging a process that avoids this historic issue to develop what the company intends to be the first generation of oral integrin therapeutics.

About Morphic Therapeutic

Morphic Therapeutic is a biotechnology company developing a new generation of oral integrin therapies. Drawing on integrin biology breakthroughs from the lab of noted entrepreneur and scientific founder Tim Springer, Morphic has developed an exclusive platform to build on these discoveries, complemented by a partnership with computational chemistry leader Schrödinger, Inc., that facilitates the rapid and iterative design of clinical candidates. For more information, visit www.morphictx.com.