Participated · Series A · Aug 2021

RubrYc Therapeutics applies proprietary machine-learning and computational biology solutions to discover epitope-selective mono- and bispecific antibodies using its Discovery Engine and Meso-scale Engineered Molecules. The company focuses on steering antibody discovery campaigns to particular epitopes on validated and challenging targets. RubrYc will partner with iBio to combine its discovery capabilities with iBio’s FastPharming manufacturing and development expertise; RubrYc is responsible for discovery while iBio will conduct preclinical, clinical and commercialization activities for selected candidates. iBio secured exclusive worldwide rights to advance RubrYc’s lead program, RTX-003, an anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody for selective depletion of regulatory T cells in the solid tumor microenvironment. As part of the deal iBio invested $7.5M in RubrYc’s Series A2 Preferred equity and joined a syndicate that includes Third Point Ventures, Paladin Capital Group, Vital Venture Capital and Hayan Health Networks. RubrYc spun out of HealthTell in 2018 and is based in San Carlos, California; the collaboration could deliver more than $84 million in milestone payments to RubrYc plus potential royalties on worldwide net sales. RubrYc Therapeutics is a biotherapeutics discovery company focused on improving drug discovery through proprietary insights into critical interactions at the drug/target interface. The company uses diverse chemical libraries developed and supplied by HealthTell to train algorithms that inform decision-making throughout drug discovery. RubrYc is building an antibody discovery platform and a proprietary pipeline of therapeutic candidates. It plans to initiate new pharmaceutical partnerships and collaborate with biotechnology companies in early drug discovery while also developing its own molecules. The company was founded in 2017 and is led by Dr. Isaac Bright (CEO) and Bill Colston (Executive Chairman). RubrYc is based in San Ramon, California.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2013

AxioMx offers custom antibody discovery and development services for the research, diagnostic and therapeutic markets. The company is developing a novel, high-throughput method to synthetically generate affinity reagents—fragments of monoclonal antibodies—that bind specific target proteins. Its antibodies are generated entirely in vitro, enabling consistent quality across production batches and avoiding the use of animals. AxioMx reports customers ordered over $750k of custom services in the past nine months, covering antigen design, antibody discovery and affinity maturation. The company was founded in 2012 by Christopher McLeod and Dr. Michael Weiner and is based in Branford, Connecticut. It recently completed a $2M second financing round to support its operations and technology development. AxioMx is an early-stage biotechnology company developing a novel approach to synthetically generate affinity reagents—fragments of monoclonal antibodies that specifically bind target proteins. These reagents are intended for use in life-science research, diagnostic tests and as therapeutics. The company’s technology aims to shorten production time from 4–6 months using traditional methods to under four weeks. AxioMx was launched in 2012 and is led by CEO Christopher McLeod, CSO Michael Weiner, Ph.D., and Tom Thompson, vice president of sales and marketing. It is based in Branford, Connecticut. As of December 2012 the company had secured $2.5M in funding from investors including Connecticut Innovations, Elm Street Ventures and company founders.