Monte Rosa Therapeutics has built a platform to rationally design small-molecule molecular glues that hijack ubiquitin ligases to eliminate disease-driving proteins previously deemed undruggable. The platform combines proprietary chemical libraries with in-house proteomics, structural biology, machine learning-based target selection (including prediction of degrons) and computational chemistry. The company intends to advance its lead development candidate into the clinic and prepare IND-enabling studies later this year. Proceeds from the recent financing will also be used to accelerate pipeline growth and bolster platform capabilities to expand targeted programs. Monte Rosa positions its approach to address genomically defined diseases, including cancers driven by undruggable proteins. The company was launched from Versant Ventures’ Ridgeline Discovery Engine and is headquartered in Boston with research operations in Boston and Basel, Switzerland. Monte Rosa Therapeutics develops small-molecule degraders—molecular glues—that hijack the body’s protein-degradation machinery to remove disease-causing proteins. The company closed a $96 million Series B to accelerate growth of its pipeline and bolster its platform capabilities. Monte Rosa plans to build out its platform while concurrently advancing a portfolio of drug candidates for multiple indications, including cancer. One portfolio lead, MRT-048, has shown a differentiated degradation profile and promising in vivo activity in several models of resistant breast cancer and is undergoing further preclinical development and safety testing. The company expects to file one or more IND submissions during 2021. Monte Rosa was launched by Ridgeline, Versant’s Discovery Engine in the Technologiepark Basel, in collaboration with The Institute of Cancer Research and Cancer Research UK, and it has offices and labs in Basel and Boston. Monte Rosa Therapeutics develops a platform to rationally design small molecules that reprogram ubiquitin ligases to eliminate disease drivers previously deemed undruggable. The platform combines computational modeling of ligase-neosubstrate interactions, quantitative proteomics, structural biology, and a diverse chemical library of protein degraders. The company was launched in 2018 from Versant’s Ridgeline Discovery Engine and is headquartered in Boston with research operations in Boston and Basel, Switzerland. Several validated small-molecule leads, including MRT-048, have demonstrated novel degradation profiles and in vivo efficacy across tumor models; MRT-048 is undergoing further preclinical development and safety testing. Monte Rosa plans to expand its chemical library (projected to exceed 10,000 structures by the end of 2020), advance multiple drug candidates, file one or more IND submissions during 2021, and explore discovery-stage pharma collaborations. The company disclosed a $32.5 million Series A commitment and intends to launch a Series B to back the development of multiple clinical-stage programs.

Total raised

$128M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Mar 2021