Totus Medicines discovers and develops small molecule medicines using a novel DNA-encoded covalent library technology combined with artificial intelligence/machine learning. Its platform can screen billions of drug candidates against thousands of targets simultaneously, enabling discovery of molecules that may be superior to those found with prior technologies, including candidates for previously undruggable targets. The company plans to advance its clinical program, expand its pipeline, and evolve its platform. Totus closed a $66M Series B financing to support those efforts. The round was led by DCVC Bio with participation from North Pond Ventures, Camford Capital, and the Regents of the University of Minnesota. The company also announced Nassim Usman as President & CEO while co-founder Neil Dhawan will transition to CSO and Head of R&D to continue overseeing the platform, programs, and data. Totus Medicines, a Massachusetts-based biotech, exited stealth after raising $40 million in a Series A to advance PI3Kα-targeted therapies. Its lead candidate, TOS-358, produced tumor regressions in preclinical models of breast, colon, lung, and stomach cancers where other PI3Kα inhibitors showed only mild effects. The company plans to begin clinical testing of TOS-358 in the second half of next year. Totus uses a drug-discovery platform that employs molecular tags to track drug binding in individual cells, enabling screening of billions of molecules across thousands of genes in parallel. The company positions its asset as an improvement on existing PI3Kα inhibitors, citing limited success in under 10% of patients with PI3Kα-mutant cancers. Totus is led by CEO and co-founder Neil Dhawan, Ph.D., who previously co-founded Dual Therapeutics.

Total raised

$106M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Dec 2023