• Emulate

  Participated · Series B · Oct 2016

  Emulate develops miniaturized "organ-on-a-chip" devices that culture human cells and simulate organ-specific mechanical and biological conditions to improve preclinical drug testing. The company plans to invest its latest proceeds in an R&D "roadmap" to build model organ systems tailored to drug makers’ needs. Products announced so far include a brain chip, an immune cell recruitment application spanning lung, liver and intestine chips, and a microbiome model integrated into a liver chip. Emulate says it will roll out 14 applications over the next two years, seven of which will arrive next year. The company reports 21 major drug-company customers, including Roche, Genentech, Johnson & Johnson and Gilead Sciences. Emulate has worked with the FDA under a 2020 CRADA (its lung chips were used in COVID-19 research) and notes a potentially favorable regulatory backdrop via the FDA Modernization Act of 2021. Emulate develops a living Human Emulation System powered by Organs-on-Chips technology, comprising Organ-Chips, instrumentation, and software applications. The company’s Organ-Chips include lung, liver, brain, intestine and kidney products and are designed to recreate human physiology in a micro-engineered environment. Emulate plans to add advanced biological capabilities—including models of thrombosis and immune system modulation—and a range of disease models to enable drug efficacy testing and insights into disease mechanisms. It will also enhance the Human Emulation System with new software applications for data analysis, integration with standard analytical approaches, and collaboration across teams. Proceeds from the financing will be used to broaden product functionality, build commercial readiness, and expand community engagement to drive adoption by early pharmaceutical users. Emulate has developed its platform through collaborations with industry, academia, hospitals, and regulatory agencies and holds a worldwide exclusive license from Harvard University to Organs-on-Chips intellectual property. Emulate creates living products based on Organs-on-Chips technology and is commercializing a lab-ready Human Emulation System that includes Organ-Chips, instrumentation, and software apps. Each Organ-Chip contains micro-engineered channels lined with living human cells to recreate physiology and mechanical forces, intended to predict human response more precisely than cell culture or animal testing. The company intends to serve industries including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food, agriculture, cosmetics, and consumer products, and is working with clinical partners to produce personalized Organ-Chips using patients' stem cells. Emulate holds the worldwide exclusive license from Harvard University (Wyss Institute) to the Organs-on-Chips intellectual property, and its founding team pioneered the technology at the Wyss Institute. The company is privately held and based in Boston. Management says the expanded funding will accelerate R&D, expedite product launches, expand strategic partnerships, and move the company toward profitability. Emulate commercializes Organs-on-Chips technology as a lab-ready Human Emulation System that combines Organ-Chips, instrumentation, and software apps to enable human-relevant R&D within existing workflows. The system is designed to be plug-and-play, increasing throughput and allowing customizable experiments without specialized expertise. Emulate plans to expand its Organ-Chip portfolio beyond lung, liver, intestine, and skin to include kidney, heart, and brain, and to grow disease-state applications for neurodegenerative diseases, oncology, intestinal diseases and the microbiome, and infectious diseases. The company is pursuing collaborations with industry, academia, clinical and government partners and is working on Organ-Chips personalized with individual patients’ stem cells for precision medicine applications. Emulate holds the worldwide exclusive license from Harvard University to the Organs-on-Chips intellectual property and its founding team pioneered the technology at the Wyss Institute. The company aims to translate its R&D into commercial products across drug development, agriculture, cosmetics, food, and chemical-based consumer products. Financially, Emulate announced a $28 million Series B to accelerate product development, launch the Human Emulation System, expand strategic partnerships, and move toward profitability. Emulate develops an automated Organs-on-Chips platform and software that bioemulates human organ physiology and disease to predict responses to medicines, chemicals and toxins. Its miniaturized devices contain channels lined with living human cells cultured under continuous flow and mechanical regimens (for example, cyclic breathing and peristalsis) and can be linked to form a Human-Body-on-Chips. The company emphasizes automated instrumentation that permits molecular-scale, real-time analysis to elucidate mechanisms of action and toxicity. Emulate plans to commercialize the platform through co-innovation with corporate and clinical clients and through internal development programs, targeting applications in drug development, cosmetics, personalized medicine, agriculture and consumer health. The company launched with a $12 million Series A financing to advance its first commercial applications. Emulate’s team and foundational research originate from the Wyss Institute at Harvard, and the company holds a worldwide license to a broad intellectual property portfolio from Harvard.

• Amylyx Pharmaceuticals

  Led · Equity · Nov 2015

  Amylyx Pharmaceuticals is a Cambridge, Mass. pharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for ALS, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Its lead product candidate, AMX0035, is a co‑formulation of sodium phenylbutyrate (PB) and taurursodiol (TURSO/ursodoxicoltaurine) designed to reduce neuronal death by targeting endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial‑dependent degeneration pathways. Amylyx has published data on AMX0035 in the New England Journal of Medicine and Muscle and Nerve. The company filed a New Drug Submission (NDS) for AMX0035 with Health Canada in June and intends to submit a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the EMA’s CHMP by the end of 2021. Amylyx plans to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial and will continue to update the global ALS community, including plans involving the US FDA. The company closed an oversubscribed Series C to support late‑stage clinical development, potential launch planning for AMX0035, and further R&D in other neurodegenerative diseases. Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, based in Cambridge, Mass., is developing AMX0035, a first-in-class investigational therapy designed to reduce neuronal death by targeting mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum–dependent degeneration pathways. The company completed a Phase II ALS trial (CENTAUR) and has completed enrollment in a second Phase II Alzheimer’s trial (PEGASUS). CENTAUR was a 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study assessing safety, tolerability and disease progression using ALSFRS-R and other measures; full CENTAUR data are anticipated for publication in the near term. PEGASUS is a biomarker-focused 24-week study in late mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer’s, with topline data expected in the first quarter of 2021. Financially, Amylyx has closed an oversubscribed $30 million Series B financing led by Morningside Ventures to support ongoing clinical development. Company leadership states the proceeds will help the firm continue to advance trials and press ahead as rapidly as possible for patients with ALS, Alzheimer’s and other neurological conditions. Amylyx Pharmaceuticals is developing AMX0035, a proprietary fixed‑dose combination of sodium phenylbutyrate (PB) and tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) for treatment of ALS. AMX0035 is designed to target neuroinflammation and nerve‑cell death; preclinical models showed synergistic activity and the individual agents have prior clinical testing showing safety, tolerability and preliminary signs of efficacy. The company plans to begin a Phase II clinical trial to evaluate safety, tolerability, functional outcomes, biomarkers of cell function/neuronal damage and inflammation, and a new objective measure of muscle strength. The IND for the Phase II trial is on schedule for the fourth quarter of 2016 and the trial is expected to start shortly thereafter, with over 20 U.S. clinical sites already expressing interest. Financially, Amylyx completed a $5.0 million Series A and received a $2.96 million grant for the trial; the company reports $10 million in combined grant funding and private financing to advance AMX0035. Investor board members have joined the company to support clinical development as Amylyx advances its candidate in a disease area with significant unmet need. Amylyx Pharmaceuticals is developing AMX0035, a combination of two existing small-molecule drugs intended to work in tandem to address nerve cell death and inflammation in neurodegenerative diseases. AMX0035 is designed to block stress on mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum, processes the company says mediate nerve cell death and neuroinflammation. The company has completed only preclinical testing to date and reports efficacy in disease-specific models of ALS, Alzheimer's and mitochondrial disease. Amylyx plans to launch clinical trials for ALS next year and will use the new funding to support IND-enabling studies for its lead candidate. According to an SEC filing it raised $1.3 million in a new equity round and additionally received $600,000 in grants from the ALS Finding a Cure Foundation and the Cure Alzheimer's Fund, totaling $1.9 million. Founded in 2013 and based in Cambridge, this is Amylyx's first round of equity financing; its scientific advisory board is chaired by Dr. Rudolph Tanzi.

No current team members are available.