Ghent, Belgium, 4 October 2022 – V-Bio Ventures announces the successful close of a EUR 23 million Series A financing round in Sibylla Biotech. The company is developing an innovative avenue for drug discovery by enabling the targeting of proteins while they are still folding. This paradigm shift in drug design opens the possibility of treating previously undruggable targets in a wide range of therapeutic areas.
Sibylla’s proprietary approach – Pharmacological Protein Inactivation by Folding Intermediate Targeting (PPI-FIT) – enables the design of small-molecule drugs called Folding Interfering Degraders (FIDs). These FIDs are a novel class of drugs capable of binding to folding intermediates, a breakthrough for diseases where the native proteins currently aren’t targetable. To identify these intermediate structures, the company has developed an algorithm to simulate protein folding and identify potential binding pockets for FIDs. The Series A funding will help Sibylla to further develop its technology, expand its therapeutic pipeline, and advance at least one program through preclinical and IND-enabling studies.
Lead investor V-Bio Ventures is joined by an international syndicate of specialized life sciences investors, with participation from Seroba Life Sciences, 3B Future Health, Claris Ventures, CDP Venture Capital, VI Partners, Indaco Venture Partners, as well as the company’s seed investor, Vertis SGR. With the Series A close, Sibylla’s board will include Ward Capoen from V-Bio Ventures, Bruno Montanari from Seroba, Ciro Spedaliere from Claris, and Marianne Bjordal from 3BFuture Health.
Lidia Pieri, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sibylla Biotech: “Sibylla Biotech is bringing a unique and highly differentiated approach to the protein degradation field opening up a range of targets previously considered undruggable. We have gained the support of a strong group of expert investors and the capital to advance a lead candidate through IND-enabling studies, expand our protein folding simulation technology platform and bring additional expertise to our team. I would like to thank all of Sibylla employees, founders and supporters for enabling our achievements so far.”
Ward Capoen, Partner at V-Bio Ventures: “Sibylla’s novel approach has already demonstrated that it can unlock a new category of targets with the potential to translate these into a robust pipeline of small molecule candidates for an unlimited range of indications. We are excited to support Sibylla Biotech’s vision to transform the protein degradation landscape.”
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About Sibylla Biotech
Sibylla is disrupting the protein degradation landscape by applying a novel mechanism of action that interferes with protein folding and thereby suppresses the expression of a disease-relevant protein. Through their protein folding simulation technology platform, Sibylla identifies relevant and previously unexplorable folding intermediates for protein targets that are currently considered undruggable in their native state. The company is developing a proprietary pipeline of small molecule folding interfering degraders (FIDs) that can address a range of therapeutic areas.
About Sibylla Biotech’s Foundation
Sibylla Biotech was established as a spin-off company based on a multidisciplinary scientific collaboration between the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics, the University of Trento and the University of Perugia, which together co-funded the collaboration with the Telethon Foundation ETS. Vertis SGR funded the breakthrough discovery technology resulting from the collaboration, enabling the initial validation of Sibylla’s technology. https://www.sibyllabiotech.it/
About V-Bio Ventures
V-Bio Ventures is an independent venture capital firm specialized in building and financing young, innovative life sciences companies. V-Bio Ventures was established in 2015 and works closely with Belgium-based VIB, one of the world’s premier life science institutes. The fund invests throughout Europe in start-up and early-stage companies with high growth potential focusing on technologies that provide transformational improvements in the biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, diagnostics and agricultural sectors. https://v-bio.ventures
