Biotechnology company Triplet Therapeutics announced that it launched earlier this week with $59 million in financing as it develops ways to treat certain types of genetic disorders at their source.
The $59 million includes a $49 million Series A financing round led by MPM Capital and Pfizer Ventures U.S. Co-founder Atlas Venture seeded Triplet with $10 million and participated in the Series A, with Invus, Partners Innovation Fund and Alexandria Venture Investments also contributing.
Cambridge, Mass.-based Triplet sets out to treat a group of more than 40 known genetic diseases with associated expanded DNA nucleotide repeats. According to a news release, evidence identified one central pathway, the DNA damage response (DDR) drives onset and progression of the disorders, which include Huntington’s disease, myotonic dystrophy and various spinocerebellar ataxias.
The company is developing antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) and small interfering RNA (siRNA) candidates in an attempt to thwart key components of the DDR pathway. The Series A funds are earmarked for progressing the company’s first development candidates into studies, while advancing its clinical development plan as it understands repeat expansion disorders.
“We’re excited to launch Triplet today to transform the treatment of repeat expansion disorders,”Atlas Venture partner Nessan Bermingham said in a news release. “This milestone would not have been possible without the contributions of thousands of patients, whose participation in genetic research has enabled us to build a fundamentally new understanding of the cause of these diseases. With this financing we are positioned to rapidly advance our initial development candidates toward the clinic for patients.”
“More than 40 repeat expansion disorders have been identified, and most of these diseases are severe with limited to no treatment options,” added Atlas Venture partner & Triplet board chair Dr. Jean-François Formela. “We have built Triplet to fundamentally transform what has been the treatment strategy for these diseases up to now.”
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